Reading
They must study the classic work in their fields, emulate the masters and the greats and what made their work last.
Ryan Holiday • Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work that Lasts
The point is not to read widely so that your voice will be sort of a mutt descended from them all. The point is to read widely enough to know what delights you, what you would like to imitate, and what you want to stay away from.
Douglas Wilson • Wordsmithy
Above all, remember that your task is not so much to achieve an overall understanding of the particular book before you as to find out how it can be useful to you in a connection that may be very far from the author’s own purpose in writing it.