Reading yes. Writing...it depends on what your writing about...

And John Steinbeck. I can't believe I forgot Steinbeck.

If anyone's looking for stories that WILL, are guaranteed to, improve reading and writing skills, read the classics. Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, Leo Tolstoy, Robert Louis Stevenson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, J.D. Salinger, Mark Twain, the Bronte sisters, ia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, etc.

Writing, possibly. Reading, not really.

No offense to a lot of writers on this site but many authors' writing skills are severely lacking. Of course, authors whose first language isn't English are pardoned. But a lot of authors’ whose first language is English have writing skills on par with elementary students'. I’m a grammar Nazi and one of my pet peeves is awful grammar. If I read a foreword/description and see numerous grammar mistakes, that says a lot about that author’s writing skills and they are ESSENTIAL to the experience of reading the story. I never read stories with poor grammar and/or writing convention errors.

I speak from personal experience when I say that my writing improved from authoring on this site for a couple years. But that's because I STROVE to improve, constantly asking myself: "What sentence structure should I use this time so the reader won't find my stories monotonous in sentence pattern?" and "How can I incorporate advanced vocabulary into my stories without making it sound like I look these words up on Thesaurus.com and just copy and paste them in place of a simpler word?"

I've noticed other authors with very popular stories do this and it drives me NUTS because the synonyms hardly every work in the context they're applied in; "smarter-sounding synonym" does NOT equal "perfect for the context." It means "SIMILAR definition so USE WITH DISCRETION because it won't work in all situations."

Therefore, authors' writing skills may improve (but ONLY when they're sincerely striving to bolster their skills and take constructive criticism into account, which A LOT OF AUTHORS DON'T.) But reading stories that severely lack writing conventions — which, in turn, will speak volumes about the standard of vocabulary used in the story — won’t improve anyone’s reading skills. If lucky, it won’t bring their reading skills DOWN.

Sorry if I'm a party pooper; I prefer to see the realistic (however harsh, pessimistic, and cold) side of everything.

I said maybe. It really depends on the writer. If the writer writes well and uses diction, jargon, grammar, and/or syntax the reader is not familiar with, then the more they are aware of the different uses, the better they can become in reading and writing.

reading helps you improve your vocabulary skills and grammar skills. You use grammar and vocabulary in writing, right? Therefore, reading DOES help you write.

P.S : You can give some reasons on why you choose your answer in the comment section.Thank you ^^

The more you read, the better a reader you become (like practice makes perfect sort of thing). The same goes with writing for those who write fanfics.