Read A Lot. Write A Lot.
/I’ve been a writer for a while. It comes with ease for me. Not everything good has to be hard to do. I’ll dive into that another time. Bottom line: Writing makes me happy. So do books. Most of them. There is the occasion bad actor, but books are where it’s at.
My writing is never more solid and easy than when I write every day and read every day. Period. I work at it and receive it because I keep showing up. Not terribly complicated. However, there is always someone who thinks they’ve found an easier way. Believe them at your own peril.
I read for fun most of the time. Sometimes I’ve got homework reading. Like when I read a top ten bestseller for the month or a self-help book. I’m subscribed to Scribbler box. Every month there is a new book. These are the hardest reading challenge I’m involved in. I don’t get to pick a book. They do. I got to say some of these books have been difficult. Subjects I don’t care for. There is one book I’ve never finished. I couldn’t make my eyes bleed anymore. I’ve got to say though, I learn the most from books I don’t really like.
How much are you reading? Do you have any way to track that? Are you reading daily? Or is it more like every two or three days before you go to bed and you’re not sure you even made it through a page?
Because how much you are reading directly affects how much and how well you write. This is even more important at the moment. With the pandemic, many of us are staying home. We’ve cut out many outings that gave us writer fuel. We need to live in order to write. See other people. Listen to conversations at a restaurant. Watch a movie in a theater. I enjoy going to art museums. None of these things carry with zero risk right now.
Reading a lot may be one of the few ways we get more fuel for the next bit. I’ve upped my game here and gone for a couple of audible books. The sound of an unfamiliar voice than my own makes it feel more interesting. Who doesn’t need a fresh voice in their head?
Many writers bemoan how their to be read pile has grown as they get busier and busier with their careers. They feel the workload is too much. They don’t make time to read. If I had a room of strangers and I asked what the who is an author. Maybe a couple hands go up. If I ask, how’s your writing going? They may complain a bit. That’s allowed. Who doesn’t need to vent from time to time? If I finish with, tell me a book you were excited to read this month? I swear to you, they would look perplexed then guilty as they try to think of what books their friends have put out that month.
What brought most writers to the table? Reading. Sometimes it’s the book that pulled us in a direction we didn’t know we wanted. Or a book is so bad you think to yourself I can write better than this person. Writers are readers. I really believe if you aren’t reading, you aren’t writing.
I’ve heard about the writing everyday thing. When I’ve challenged myself, I can chain days together into long streaks. I love those. I celebrate them in my planner’s calendar. It drives me to keep going. When I add a daily reading habit to my daily writing habit, I hit pay dirt every time.
Books make you think, challenges you to see the world through a unique perspective. With digital publishing, you can find a book on any subject. You like alien romance where the male is purple and likes chocolate. I swear to you someone has written it. Or maybe it’s for you to write for yourself?
I hear all kinds of excuses. Not enough time. We just had the baby. My dad is sick and moving in with us. Work is so busy this time of year. I can only say that life is going to happen whether or not you write. If you want to publish, you need to write. But you better be reading too.
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. ”
It doesn’t have to be a new to you book either. There are books I reread. Love to do that. I need something happy and know which one will make me feel better. Book besties. I can tell you why a particular book will help me process some bad news or painful encounter. Re-reading has its uses.
Reading your own work over and over as you write, and revise is not counting towards your reading for the day. I don’t want you to email me about how you can’t possibly read anything else because you’ve already read 2500 words today, and that’s your limit. First, I don’t have a word limit. Second, why do you? Third, working versus reading are two separate activities. I don’t count the critique group works I read as my reading. It’s business.
Consider reading part of self-care for the writer brain. The brain needs fuel. Fill it up.
What are you reading now?
