Students in college basic skills programs will become more proficient writers not simply by being taught specific writing strategies, but also by greater exposure to the total linguistic system through reading. In the first of two reading projects initiated in an Ohio State University basic skills program, eight students participated voluntarily in weekly two-hour sustained silent reading sessions and kept journals of their reading responses. Although the students had great difficulty selecting appropriate texts, two students eventually found appropriate books and increased their reading comprehension scores dramatically during the ten-week project. In the second project, students were required to spend one hour per week in a reading laboratory, reading from a programed text and answering questions about their reading. The results of this project were encouraging, especially the gains made in reading comprehension skills. Neither project was designed to measure improvement in writing skills; but in any case, the benefits derived from sustained silent reading involve a familiarity with linguistic structures, and reading should not be expected to affect writing directly. There is a need for reading programs for basic writers and for research into the relationship between reading and writing. David Bartholomae's research in this area suggests that work in reading affects basic writers' performance in writing. (GT)