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[Clueless Morgan]

Your suspicion is based upon writers knowing how to analyze works of fiction and having done so, how to apply any lessons learned to their own writing.  I find both propositions dubious, excepting perhaps in those who have studied literary criticism.  Writing is knowing-how, whereas analysis of others' writing is a completely different skill.  There's some crossover, certainly, but I suspect less than you advocate.

I guess I wasn't clear enough. I'm not saying writers innately know how to do this or have all studied literary criticism, I'm saying that if a writer had such tools in their arsenal then reading a lot would certainly be helpful to their own writing. Much like how a photographer is more likely to take good photographs if they have some training in composition. The untrained photographer might take one "good" photo in every 50 exposures whereas the trained photographer might take one "good" photo every 5 or 10 exposures.

Does that clarify what I meant?

Of course, having the training or studying literary criticism doesn't automatically make one successful. The single best way to improve a skill is to practice that skill.