"If you don't have the time to read, you don't have
the time or the tools to write."
~ Stephen King
Have you ever gone a bit without reading, and find that it is SO MUCH HARDER to be inspired when you're writing? That your sentences just don't sound as well written? That ideas just don't come as easily? That your descriptions just aren't right? I find when I'm struggling like that, it usually means I haven't been reading enough.
Which, really, as far as problems go, fixing that one is fun! How cool is it to be a writer? We get automatic EXTRA EXCUSES to read! What could be better than that?
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| Photo Credit |
Have a wonderful goblin-filled, ghost-spooked, ghoul-packed weekend, everyone!
39 comments:
I agree. I always seem to write better if I read more. I talked about this a while back on my blog. There are two vastly different views on this topic. Some writers do not like to read (especially in the genre that they write) while working on a book. They argue that it stifles their creativity, among other things. I feel the exact opposite. The more I read the more my writing improves.
I love your blog. It is so cute and has so much going on without appearing cluttered. It is my new idol blog.
I am reading Stephen King's On Writing right now and loved this bit of advice. So true. If you don't love to read, how can you love to write? Reading rocks!
It's those days where I like reading more than writing that get me in trouble. :) Reading is my biggest procrastination tool. But at least I'm getting lots of inspiration from it.
I go through spurts with my reading. I'll read five books in a month and then I won't read anything for a month.
It all depends on what's interesting to me at the time.
Those are great looking cookies.
I used to read a TON. Until I started writing seriously. I feel bad I don't have as much time to read anymore, but I still try to read a few books a month. :) And those Halloween cookies look AMAZING.
I have a new pile of books to read this month (I stole them from aforementioned sister-in-law who buys crazy amounts of expensive books off Amazon) and I cant wait to get started. So when am I going to get started already?
I agree with that - and am also inspired by how much writers read. Considering their free time is usually writing, so reading time comes from somewhere else! I guess like that one post you did - maybe it cuts into sleep time! Hahaha!
That's what I'm saying! So, it's ok that I've been spending the last few days reading away instead of editing, right?
Yes, though I wouldn't call it so much a lack of inspiration as a lack of execution. I still feel like writing, still have ideas for this scene or that, but if I'm not reading, the words stick and get gummed up. Reading is kind of like changing the oil on your car, I guess.
Have a great weekend.
Should I stop reading it means that my body has gone cold and hard. ;D
I have forced myself to slow down on reading so that I have more time to write.. this month I've only read two books and it feels weird... good thing they were two amazing books.
I actually spent some time this morning online looking for 2012 releases... and started a list... YAY!
I've read more this year than in years past, and I completely agree that it helps with writing. I heard an agent say that you should read 4x more than you write :)
I don't read as much as I used to since I started writing. I just don't have the time. I'll probably just barely reach 100 books read this year. I always have to have a book though. It keeps me sane.
YES. That's been me lately. It's also one reason I work out - it's an excuse to spend half an hour doing NOTHING but reading. (Well, reading and working out.)
Such cute little cookies! Happy Halloween. :)
That's why I love critting. "I'm not reading. I'm working!" :)
Have a great weekend!
Love that quote. And now I want cookies. Yummy yummy cookies.
Those cookies are the cutest, and I LOVE that quote! Have a great Halloween and a great weekend. :)
I am sooooo going to use this excuse!
"Sorry I can't stack the dishwasher/run the kids to their clubs/mow the lawn. Peggy said that I have to read more books. ;o)
The cookies are so cute! I go through different stages. But, I usually lean more to the reading too much, instead of not enough.
Happy Halloween!
What is that thing in the middle of the cookies? It looks weird. Anyway, great quote and so true Reading inspires!
reading totally inspires me to write. i'm in the middle of 3 books most of the time. 3 locations (car, bedroom, ipad) to squeeze reading in whenever i can =)
where do you get these fabulous cookies? yum!
have a great wknd!
Love the cookies ... and the quote. I'm so ready for NaNo to just start. Of course, as soon as it does, I have a feeling my brain will freeze up. Ugh
Love it ... Any excuse to read is a good one. Writing is one of the best! Happy Friday ...
Such a wonderful quote and such amazing points. I need to get reading :)
On the opposite side of that - sometimes when I finish a book I think - I really should just give up now because that was AMAZING.
Not really, because it gives me something to shoot for, but kind of, because every once in a while I read something remarkable.
My last two blow me out of the water books were Wintergirls by halse anderson and Cracked up To Be by Courtney Summers.
Amen to that! If we aren't reading, we have no business writing. And you're right - extra excuses to read - that rocks!
I totally agree. And there are certain writers who seem to be more inspiring to me than others. A lot of YA authors, and Jodi Piccoult!
Awesome quote. I love it!
They'll probably bury me with a book in my hand. :)
It happens to me often. When my writing starts to wilt, I need to pick up a book and start reading. BUT, it has to be one that I connect with as a writer (the writing).
BTW, great quote by Stephen King.
Melissa-- I totally agree that it helps! And if it harms some to read in their genre while drafting, I say there's always other genres! It helps to read outside your own, anyway. Not reading at all while drafting seems somehow wrong. Unless, of course, you're one of those people who can draft a book in nine days. :) And thanks for the compliment! That might possibly be the sweetest things I've ever heard. Sniff.
Shell-- I agree! It rocks!
Ruth-- Hahaha! Well, at least your procrastination tool still moves you in the right direction. That's more than you can say for a whole lot of other procrastination tools!
Patti-- I go through spurts, too. I usually have a book that I'm in the middle of, but sometimes I go s-l-o-w.
Chantele-- It's true! Time spent reading and time spent writing tend to be the same time in many instances. You have to choose one over the other. I want it all!
Jessie-- Maybe because just looking at the stack makes you drool. And maybe you like to drool. Hey, do what you want. I'm not one to judge. :)
Kristine-- What?! NO. We NEVER lose sleep because we're reading. That's just crazy talk!
Erin-- Only if they were good books. :) Otherwise, get back on that editing so I can read it already!
JeffO-- "The words stick and get gummed up." Perfect explanation!
WilyBCool-- Haha! I guess they won't have to feel for a pulse then, huh?
Cristina-- Sigh. That's the burn. If you speed up on reading or writing, the other tends to slow down. But yay new book excitement!
Angela-- Read four times more than you write. What a great rule of thumb! I'm going to remember that one.
S.P.-- 100 books a year is still uberly impressive! That's one every 3 1/2 days. I say you are still doing quite fabulous!
Leigh Ann-- Ooo! Nice! Way to kill two birds with one stone! (And someone should really work on coming up with a replacement phrase for that. I mean, really.)
Carrie-- Hahaha! What a fabulous way to look at it!
Josh-- Gosh. Me, too. All over again.
Abby-- I hope you have a great weekend, too! Happy Halloween!
Iain-- Dang. My name is going to be a curse word in your house now!
Jenny-- That's a great way to lean. :)
J.A.-- Uh... I'm going to say pistachio.
Tara-- Nice! I love the idea of keeping different books in different places! And just click on the "photo credit" link below the picture, and you'll see. :)
Donna-- It sounds like you got uberly prepared! Otherwise you'd probably be thinking crap!-it's-almost-here! instead of start-already! I'm impressed!
Joanne-- I agree.
Elisabeth-- Yep. And the nice thing about reading is that there are SO MANY CHOICES!
Jolene-- Haha! Yeah, well... there's always that. I guess it has to come with some bad side effects, right? Otherwise it'd be just too good to be true.
Kimberly-- Yep! Extra excuses totally rock.
Susanna-- Definitely! There are some writers that make me want to do nothing other than sit down and write and write and write much more so than other writers. Great point!
Faith-- Me, too. :)
Michelle-- Hahaha! You should put tell your family members they should do that. It'd be awesome. :)
Bea-- It definitely works better when it's an author you connect with! It can make all the difference, it's true.
Agree reading is a must, but I also struggle to find the time... sometimes when I have a spare moment, I don't want to read or do anything... just let my brain chill out:)
I read a lot, but when I'm in the throes of writing a first draft, I find I can't read in my own genre. I need to separate myself from it. That's why I like non-fiction so much!
I think you're right, reading does help. Authors must unconsciously pick up on nuances in prose as they read. Then, when they put pen to paper their mind unloads all it's picked up on.
Totally true! I constantly seek out new books to re-inspire my own words. The newest book I've found: "The Name of the Star" by Maureen Johnson. It's a YA set in London about Jack the Ripper and ghosts, and I haven't been able to put it down all weekend!
Any excuse to read sounds perfect to me. But what the heck is that thing stuck into the cookies!?
I agree with you, you have to read if you want to write. How else do you become discerning? How do you understand the mechanics of a plot? If, as I do you write poetry then it is equally essential to read the work of others. I love the photo of the cookies!
Those look great!!!
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