The MOST important part of writing

Soooooooooooo................. I'm late! By, like, a lot actually, I just remembered this morning (sorry).
Aiden and Jassy are gone, left, just like that ;'(...... You know that song in Shrek that Donkey sings? I'm all alone, with no one here beside me..... But you gotta have friends--
SHUT UP DONKEY!!
ehemm... yea just like that....
Anyway, I've got Skype and some plane tickets so I think I just might make it through Christmas.
On to the title!
As I constantly am reminded, one of the most important parts of being a good writer is to read many many books to learn techniques and styles that other writers use. I just recently got two brand-spanken-new books, and I have fallen in love with them.
But at the same time, I am writing my own story. Aiden will probably try to long distance strangle me, but it is a new idea I'm pretty sure I came up with all on my own... well my subconscious (sp?) did anyway when it put me through an amazing dream that made me feel happy and curious all at the same time.
The point is, after I read those two books, I found it even easier to write, even though my story has absolutely nothing in the world to do with those two stories.
So, moral of the story, even though it may take twice as long to write your story or get through the book--read everything you can get your hands on and write down absolutely everything that comes to mind.
It just might get you where you need to be.