Many hundreds of hours of reading will build your vocabulary, and tune your ear to the sound of a good sentence. But it will not make you a writer.

Reading as a person wanting to become a better writer should be more conscience of what they are reading. I often finish a novel and can't even remember if it was narrated, or how. That is not careful reading.

I've heard of authors who, went waiting for their muse, just copied novels they liked until they got back in the groove, and this usually helped.

Practice makes practice. Deliberate practice makes...