“I am a writer, but I don’t have time to read.”
I am embarrassed to admit it, but I have uttered those very words to myself for the past many months every time I walk past my bookshelves. Daily life sucked the life out of me and I used the long laundry list of tasks to justify putting my reading, and eventually my writing life, on hold. I may seem a little cuckoo, but I had a daily argument with myself that went something like this.
You have to work now and take care of your kids. Survival is paramount right now.
Yes, but I love to read. It’s my great escape and inspires me to write.
Read? Write? Are you kidding? How about finding time to cook the kids a real dinner after work, or finish grading papers before 11:00 so you can sleep a little?
Ah, sleep….you’re right. I forgot what that was. What’s a book again?
Since summer vacation started, I turned over a new leaf to get back to reading and writing again, and downloaded the Amazon Audible app on my phone to listen to audiobooks while I run. I still have too short an attention span yet to sit down and look at a physical page, but it is a start.
The first one I listened to was by Joel Osteen, Fresh Start: The New You Begins Today. I’m not one to ever listen to TV evangelists, but the message seemed so appropriate to me in every aspect of my life, and empowered me to give myself permission to reboot my passions, which included reading and writing at the top of the list. The next book I listened to was Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. Narrated by her, it is a book of her personal experiences with writing, positive vibes, and encouraging guidelines to spur on the discipline to be creative and get the writing done. Anne Lamott became the voice of my runs for a full week, and even followed me on a cruise, inspiring me as I lay on the pool deck of the ship with a pina colada in my hand.
Right now, I am listening to Stephen King’s On Writing:A Memoir of the Craft and his words are kicking my butt into gear. His rags-to-riches story is inspiring because he worked his tail off writing to get where he is today. In the book, he talks about elements of writing, but what resonates the most with me right now is that he says that if a writer doesn’t read, he shouldn’t be a writer.
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”
Stephen King, On Writing
Period. No negotiations. He also says about reading and writing, with raw honesty,
““If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
Here are just a few reasons to read to become a better writer.
- To explore many writing styles
- To spur inspiration for your own work
- To experience good and bad writing and learn from other author’s mastery and failings of the writing process.
- To remind yourself of that a reader brings a unique interpretation to every text
- Just because you enjoy it
I needed that message to get myself moving again, and have given myself a challenge.
I am going to treat reading like it’s part of my job as a writer, not as a luxury I can’t afford. I challenge myself to read one book per week. If you are a writer, I challenge you to do the same. Here are some ideas for getting started.
- Decide if ebooks or physical books are right for you and keep whichever you choose with you at all times.
- Schedule a set time to read during the day, and let everything else go.
- Read when you have unexpected free time – in a doctor’s waiting room, for example.
- Set yourself a goal for the number of books you want to read in a given amount of time.
- Choose books from authors you know you love, and some new ones you don’t know.
I want to hold myself accountable and so I will be reporting back weekly on the books I have read. I’ll share what I liked, didn’t like, and any obstacles or successes I had with reaching my reading goals. I also invite you, the readers, to share about the books you’ve been reading, whether you are a writer or not. I love to hear about a new good read, and know that most avid readers do, too.
So, until next week…happy reading!