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Hi! New guy here. Probably not the easiest topic for my first post, but what the hell? I think it's a good one.

The argument about "art" or "craft" or what have you missing from a bulk of today's writing is a valid one. That's not to say that if you aren't reading Hemingway you're a drooling lump of useless mass. But it is to say that too many folks haven't ever had the chance in their education or taken the time on their own to read the classics and decide whether they liked them or not. There is so much to learn about writing from Poe, M.R. James, Ambrose Bierce, Twain, Hemingway, Flaubert, etc that it's a shame so few writers today have even looked at them.

But this argument doesn't mean that what you're reading is necessarily "shit" or that you're an idiot for reading it. I LOVE quite a bit of books that would make an English professor vomit (King, Laymon, Barker, Ketchum, etc). And I can honestly say that just because something is classic doesn't mean it's good. But the point that someone brought up about education is a good one. I should be able to determine that I am not a fan of Emily Dickinson, for example, by actually having read Dickinson. Then, when I say that one of my favorite movies is "Big Trouble In Little China" or one of my favorite books is "The Cellar," my opinion carries a little more weight (not for others, but for myself). By exposing yourself to the really good writers, learning what you can from them, you can only grow as a writer. You can take chances and, even if you don't, your DaVinci Code or Harry Potter inspired story will have a little more oomph to it as a result of your time.

Intellectual elitism serves no one. There are a lot of reasons to enjoy watching "Rocky IV," for instance, and no one should tell you you're a moron for doing so. However, you should also be able to say why you loved or hated "Rocky IV" from the perspective of someone who has exposed themselves to Welles and Kurosawa. As writers, we should always be aiming a little higher than the general public WITHOUT denouncing what people are truly enjoying (and there is a difference between what people actually enjoy and what they're spoon fed by studios/ publishers/etc). We can't (and shouldn't) write like Hemingway or James Joyce, but having the background to aim a little higher, to truly be able to decide when taking a chance if necessary, can only better our work.

If you read about what authors influenced some of the genre's greats the most, you'll see the same couple of names crop up over and over again- usually Matheson and Bradbury. Some people will make it that far back in their reading, but most stop there. Ever wonder who influenced Bradbury and Matheson? As writers we should never stop reading to learn in addition to reading for pleasure. I'm also into Mixed Martial Arts and fought a few amateur bouts. I'm not gonna train for a fight like Bruce Lee or Ali or Jack Dempsey, and I'm definitely not gonna fight like either of them. But I learned a lot about the fight game from studying those old timers. The same can be said for writing. Study the greats, aim high, and then the level that you fall to will be just a little more powerful, a little more engaging, and a little more memorable than limiting your diet to Dan Brown and "Family Guy" reruns.