Unpopular opinion but reading a lot does not automatically make you a better writer and i'm tired of pretending it does. Reading makes you a better reader. Writing makes you a better writer. They're related but they're not the same thing. You can read every book ever written and still not know how to be honest on the page. That part you have to earn separately and it costs more.
I mean, I see what you're saying, but it doesn't meaningfully change anything in what that advice is getting across. If a person is already a writer, you'd have to willfully ignore the point to understand "be a better reader and you'll be a better writer" as "you don't need to practice." It's more if a "as you read, you will come across approaches, perspectives, and techniques that will inspire you to test your craft in new and exciting ways, so fill your cup if it ever feels stale or stuck."
Writing's an act of love. If it ever gets choked out by fear (of failure, inadequacy, clichè, etc), and clarity and honesty feel out of reach, the easiest way to dig it back is not to beat yourself up over inadequate skill, but to find that love in other stuff. Reading is writing in the same way firewood is flame. The spark happens in your mind.
also because I just saw someone being like "I don't wanna read and imitate other people, I wanna write like myself!" and had feelings about it:
girl. I am holding you so gently right now. this is abject loneliness that you're subjecting yourself to. reading other people's thoughts doesn't take away from your own perspective, but what it gives you is the words to express yourself so that you will understand you. It gives you the literary vocabulary (images! symbols! metaphors! comparisons! pacing!) of your culture/s of choice, and shows you how use them to make sense of what you feel and what want to say, and then express it in a way that other people will understand you too. Literature isn't a rally where there's one voice blaring out for others to listen, it's a conversation. You're writing to be read. You and your readers will need a common language. You acquire that language by reading widely. And then not only do you get better at expressing your feelings to others, you find others who feel the same, and suddenly the world's a greater and more beautiful place where you can go, "you too?! I thought it was just me!"
I promise this is not taking one whit of your individuality away. You might be exposing yourself to all of those outside influences but the I in the centre, the mind that decides and interacts and feels, that's the voice that will always be unique. You just gotta channel it in a way that can be understood.
If you wanna write: read. Please.
