Does reading help a writer ?

In my opinion, in order to be a good writer, you first have to be a good reader. If one is a good reader, he or she will know how to approach other readers and know what readers expect or desire from his/ her writing. When I start reading an essay what I look forward to is the thesis, and its details. I realize when I do so, I accidentally ignore the writing techniques and style. I think that people can improve their writing by reading more because when I read, I sometimes can pick up some good ideas, good phrases or vocabulary and apply them to my writing in my way. Reading a lot of essays about the same topic sometimes opens my mind of what people are thinking and how different people think about an issue. Reading is not only for gaining knowledge but also a learning tool for writing. Some people might say reading doesn’t help at all since writing is about expressing your feelings rather than how well you can read. But by learning to become a good reader it improves your vocabulary and writing structure so you can make a good description of what you want to say. Yes, anyone can write, one might have a very good piece of writing, fancy stuff and good descriptions but if it’s not appropriate and can’t approach to readers, it might not be considered “ good” writing.