The more I read, the more I write
You know what they say. The more you have to do the more you get done. That’s completely true for me in every way. If there is one load of laundry, it sits. If there are eleven, I spend a day doing it and noticing that the bookshelves need dusting and that the fireplace still has logs in it and that the hall closet needs cleaning and a trip to the car wash is in order. If I have an editing project I also have plans with friends and nothing falls by the wayside. When I have a to-do list it gets done, when I have little to do, I twiddle my thumbs (which really isn’t fun).
I’ve also found that to be true with writing. When I’m reading book after book after book I’m also writing. The books tickle that part of my brain I guess. I can’t stop the reading and can’t get to the writing fast enough. It’s writing that has nothing to do with the reading, except maybe that I’m impressed or exasperated by the author — and it opens the literary floodgates.
So why I ever put a book down, I’m not sure, except that my eyes get tired and get lured away by the computer and the TV. I ended a month-long reading drought recently — and the correlation amazed me. I’m also listening to audio books on my spiffy new iPhone, and the listening is doing the same thing as reading except I can do it with my eyes closed. This way I have more than one book going at the same time – which I usually do anyway – but one is normally fiction and one is non-fiction. Otherwise I get characters confused.
The non-fiction how-to or informational books don’t impact my writing the way fiction does – even when I’m writing non-fiction essays.
I guess the trick is to take advantage of the link between the two — and to load up with books that beckon me, project to get done and even a few dozen loads of laundry — and most of all not to forget that when I let the reading wane, the writing withers.
So true! You expressed this very well, Amy.
This is a good point. For awhile I was afraid to read a really good book while writing because I thought it would influence my writing, but when I finally caved I found my creativity was heightened. Maybe I need to crank through the end of Anna Karenina since it’s not inspiring me to write.
Have you ever read Stephen King’s “On Writing”? I think Stephen King is vastly underrated as an author because of his chosen genre. He has a lot of good things to say. One thing he stresses is that to be a good writer, you have to read, read, and read some more. He says unequivocally that you cannot be a writer if you are not a reader. It makes sense. Every other profession requires that one learn the trade. How does one learn to write? By reading. You could take course after course after course about the mechanics and the rules and the process…but you don’t learn how to live and breathe what you write.
Well that was a very long winded way to say I agree with you, wasn’t it?
To me this makes a lot of sense.
totally agree!
I feel the same way. If you are a writer, you are a reader. Great post!
I read a lot but I have to admit I often experience what I call a cross between Writer’s Block and Procrastination. I have to rely on my hormones to get myself rolling.
More than anything else, it’s always my mood that gets me started, keeps me going and motivates me to finish.
I absolutely agree with this. The more I read, the more I want to (and do) write. I don’t know if it’s inspiration (Hey! I want to write like that!) or if it’s just that those creative synapses get switched on in a way they don’t while I’m watching TV or doing the dishes, but whatever it is, I’ll take it. Anything that keeps inspiring me to write more, write better or write something new is worth pursuing.
I totally agree with you on this. Once we have a lot to do things do get done in the flow but when the slack falls once it take time to regain the momentum.