Is it necessary to read more to be a good writer?

No! Reading will not enhance your writing skills!

Let me reiterate - "Reading a thousand books will never make you a writer!"

To write effectively, you must write extensively. Reading extensively will not make you a proficient writer.

So what do you gain from reading, you may ask?

By reading extensively, you will become a faster and more skilled reader (not writer).

If, while reading, you come across a new word and take the time to note it, search for its meaning on Google, find a suitable image to represent the word's meaning, and create a flashcard using the ANKI software, then you will improve your "VOCABULARY" i.e. you will be able to recognize more words through the Spaced Repetition System (SRS).

DISCLAIMER: Understand that acquiring new words through reading does not necessarily mean you can use them in your own writing. You can only understand and recognize them when others use them. It is important to distinguish between the two. Also, do not assume that your vocabulary expands automatically with the number of books you read. This is false. Your brain has the ability to fill in gaps and make sense of sentences, preventing you from truly learning new words. Let me give you an example - "I ate some lunch today and the soup had slices of zucchini." When reading this sentence, you are unlikely to pause and search for the meaning of "zucchini." Your brain will compensate by assuming it is a vegetable, similar to carrots and potatoes. Some may know that zucchini is a vegetable, but they will never be able to use the word in their writing because they have not truly understood or internalized it. They simply rented the word temporarily as "some unknown vegetable," and once it is no longer necessary, it disappears.

After reading a thousand books, specifically non-fiction books, you will become knowledgeable in multiple genres. After reading thirty sociology books, for example, I already knew 90% of the content in subsequent books in that genre. This led me to stop reading more sociology books and shift my focus to another genre. Therefore, reading a thousand books, particularly non-fiction, can make you an expert in at least 20 different genres. I have read books on User Interface, UX Design, Programming, Self-Help, Psychology, Finance, and I haven't even reached 200 books yet!

Your comprehension skills will improve, allowing you to read more efficiently and quickly, essentially becoming a speed reader who absorbs content rapidly, like an ultra-fast scanner.

However, it is important to note that reading books alone will only make you a reader. It will not make you a proficient speaker. To become skilled at speaking, you must speak extensively. I would suggest joining Toastmasters and recording yourself reading books out loud. Similarly, reading books will not make you a good listener. To enhance your listening skills, you must listen to a variety of radio programs, podcasts, and audio books to train your ear to the language. Likewise, reading books will not automatically make you a proficient writer.

DELIBERATE PRACTICE - I recommend reading the book "PEAK" where the author provides techniques that can be applied to any skill. Although these instructions are not specifically aimed at writing, they are generally applicable. However, you can develop your own mental models to improve your writing.

IDEAS - GIGO - Garbage In Garbage Out, what you input is what you get as output. Writing involves two aspects. The first is the skill, the ability to find the precise words to convey your thoughts and feelings effectively. The second is the actual idea or thought. By reading, you can cultivate these ideas. A dedicated reader will always have a constant flow of ideas and will never run out of them. This is because new ideas or "idea babies" can form through the concept of the "sex of ideas". The more ideas you expose yourself to, the greater the potential for innovative ideas to emerge. Some refer to this as creativity, but it is essentially the result of feeding your brain with a plethora of ideas and letting them work their magic.

READING IS BENEFICIAL - ACTUALLY, READING IS A METHOD TO INSTALL NEW SOFTWARE INTO OUR BRAINS - KNOWLEDGE. HOWEVER, PLEASE NOTE, READING ALONE WILL NOT MAKE YOU A WRITER. If that were the case, I would have become one by now. I have spent the past 20 years reading a plethora of material including Scientific American, The Hindu, Times of India, novels, textbooks, philosophy books, etc. But I am not a proficient writer, as you can see from my writing. I consider myself an average writer (or at least I think so). Many other comments have provided better examples of writers for this question. One of them used the term "repertoire" which I have no idea what it means. However, I do understand from the context of the sentence that it refers to some kind of cache or container. I could deduce this based on the rest of the sentence construction.

Unless I actively use that word, it does not truly belong to me!

I hope this clarifies the point!