What Did You Read Today? 7 Reasons Writers Should Read Every Day
April 20, 2008 by Deb
Filed under Writing Tips
|
I love Saturday morning because I get to read. No, I’m not laying on the bed or couch catching devouring a steamy novel, I don’t have time for that kind of daytime reading. Saturday mornings are piano lessons and while my son is inside learning to sight read, I’m outside the door reading one of my magazines or a good book. It’s 45 minutes of heaven. I read in the evenings too, usually after 8 or 9:00. I subscribe to several magazines and my son and I visit the library once a week.
Dad was a librarian and was passionate about books the way I’m passionate about blogging. Every Christmas and birthday brought new books plus he always came home from the library with something great for us to read. If me or one of my five brothers and sisters were trying to get out of homework or cleaning our rooms, chances are we’d be found with our noses in a book. Now all grown up and middle aged we all still love to read and so do our children.
Why Writers Need to Read Often
As writers it’s part of our job to read. Now before you comment about how reading is a luxury and it’s hard to find the time to hang out with family, let alone read, let me urge you to reconsider. It’s a writer’s duty to read, and read often. Here’s why:
- Reading helps us to stay focused and sharp. I don’t know how it is with you, but when I left the workplace I began to feel out of touch. I felt I was losing some basic skills. Reading keeps me sharp.
- Reading keeps us updated. No matter what type of writer you are, you’ll need to know what’s going on in the world. Newspapers, magazine and even books keep us apprised and gives us different points of view.
- Reading gives us ideas. Yesterday during piano lessons I was reading the latest issue of Wired. While doing so I came up for the idea for this post as well as several others. Reading is one of the best ways to get ideas for our writing.
- Reading gives us knowledge. We don’t only gain knowledge through research. We also learn by reading and taking in facts – even if that’s not our intention. Even reading for pleasure is a learning experience.
- Reading turns us on to other writing styles. As writers it’s important to learn different writing styles. Notice how formal one writer can be when writing an editorial for a newspaper, but more relaxed when blogging or writing a novel?
- Reading is fun. Nothing is better for passing the time except maybe listening to music. Of course, I listen to music while I’m reading so I get the double whammy.
- Reading sets a good example. When other people, especially children, see you reading they want to know why it’s so enjoyable.It’s not enough to read to your kids each night. If your children see you reading every day, they will want to do it too.
What did you read today?
Really, I’m interested. I love to know what others are reading. Currently I subscribe to Writer’s Digest, Blogger & Podcaster, Wired and Newsweek. I’m also reading two books (I know but one is in the bathroom and the other is in the family room) "In the Hot Zone: One Man Twenty Wars" by Kevin Sites and "The Last King of Scotland" by Giles Foden.
Here’s a Sunday afternoon discussion for you: What are you reading and why do you feel writers should read every day?
Enjoy your Sunday…read.
If you’re not reading this article through your RSS feed, it’s being ripped off. Please report content theivery to deborahng(at)gmail(dot)com.
I read every day because I am addicted to reading!!! I read several blogs today, including yours.
I’m in the middle of an awesome book called “Unstoppable Women: Achieve Any Breakthrough Goal in 30 Days.” by Cynthia Kersey. Truly a life-changing book.
Valerie
I’m a newspaper junkie. I usuaiiy read The NY Times, The Wall Street Journal and Newsday each day. I don’t just read the news or business section (although, I do read these first; I also love the Metro section, and few others.
It’s not quite 9am right now so all I’ve read today were the few blogs in my google reader that put up new posts since yesterday afternoon. But currently I am reading Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus. I just finished The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursala LeGuin (I am not checking the spelling on author’s names at the moment).
I do read everyday for myself and I read everyday to my five year old.
I’ll be going on a trip the middle of next week and I was talking to my husband this morning about what I’ll be reading on the plane. I told him that vacation reading needs to be completely frivolous and not good for anything but entertainment. Therefore, its a long and arduous process trying to decide what to take. He laughed. But it’s true.
I totally agree that everyone should read lots, and more importantly from diverse sources.
Today I’ve read:
Blogs! Including Post-Secret… the best Sunday blog.
An article in the New York Review of Books
Some Beat generation poetry for a history essay I’m working on.
I am the kind of person who has to read the back of the cereal box or the shampoo bottle just because it’s there.
I feel like I spend more time reading than writing, which is probably not true, but reading is what I got paid to do for most of my career, so I am still in the habit even if I am not in the classroom right now, translating it all for 18 -24 year olds. I also belong to goodreads.com, which is such a great way to find new and interesting things to read. Here is a short version of my daily read:
a few blogs (this one for certain, the others mostly about consumer research, design, sustainability, and food), the New York Times, the London Times, the paper from the town i used to live in (I miss my community), Organic Gardening, and whatever background material I’m thinking about for an article, including academic journals.
i read fiction on planes, during the summer, at night, and while I’m waiting for kids at music lessons and such. Right now i am reading Gilgamesh by Jane London. I just finished Bastard of Istanbul.
when I’m teaching, I read a lot of what I would call “academic books.” I read less of them right now, but more carefully. Two I am working on are French Beans and Food Scares by Suzanne Friedberg and Meals to Come: A History of the Future of Food by Warren Belasco.
Depends on the day of the week.
On weekdays, I take the train to work and generally have about 20 minutes each way that I dedicate to whatever book I’m reading. Right now, that’s Toni Morrison’s Sula.
I like to alternate types of books as I finish, generally between fiction and writing books, but any type of non-fiction fits the bill. The last two non-fiction were MediaBistro.com’s “Get a Freelance Life” and Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” (though I didn’t finish the latter… wasn’t as warm and cheery as, say, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”).
On weekends, I prefer to spend as much time as possible with my family, so there’s no chance for intense reading. I like to flip through magazines, though, when Ani decides she wants to watch a movie or Spongebob.
Ok, not when she watches Spongebob… I kinda get sucked into that, too.
I read a couple of writing-related blogs posts, and am in the middle of Nora Roberts’ High Noon.
For my daily dose of news,I read the business section of the Sunday Times.
I also worked through a weekly guide to local property investment opportunities.
I’m currently reading “Strangers in Death” by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) and Jeffrey Archer’s “A Prisoner of Birth.”
I also subscribe to about 20 magazines, on everything from writing to wine to travel. (don’t ask; it’s out of control.)
@Sandy – I have a magazine addiction too but I promised my husband I’d nip it in the bud. So I subscribe to a few and read the rest when I bring my son to science or book club at the library.
Everyone has such great and diverse taste! Writers love to read a lot!
So far today, I have read the Sunday paper, my e-mail and a couple of news sites on the Internet.
I am reading 2 books, “Little Heathens” (Mildred Kalish) and “Austenland” (Shannon Hale) with at least 2 more waiting on my bedside table. Sunday is usually my self-proclaimed “reading day” when I use all my spare time to read, read, read!
As a writer, I read for enjoyment and for inspiration. I am very intrigued by the combinations of words that other writers use. Also, I think I owe it to my own writing to be as well “read” as possible.
Rachel Langston
I’m just going to be finishing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer today. I’ve really never read it, so it’s about time. Then I’ll choose what to read next after that. I’ve got a lot to choose from because I have a bookshelf full of books I still need to read. And a Sony Reader that has the same predicament.
Yay for reading!
Right now I’m working on a biography of C.S. Lewis. Just finished two abridged books on audio: The Reagan Diaries (which I liked) and Ann Coulter’s If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans (I’m a conservative who agrees with Coulter on many issues, but I came away with major differences in opinion regarding Coulter’s delivery; it’s easy to see why many dislike her). I love to read, but dealing with ADHD, it’s really hard for me to be able to sit down and do it as often as I would like and should.
The venerable Stephen King in his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, said that a writer who doesn’t read regularly can’t expect to acquire the tools needed to be a great writer. In other words, if you want to make a living doing this, get off your lazy butt and read. Reading expands your mind, exposes you to what works and what doesn’t and gives you ideas for new territory.
Reading gives me inspiration in an unusual way. I’ll read columns and such and think to myself, man, this writer is getting published and they absolutely suck. If THEY can get published, then with hard work I can also
I read the daily newspaper regularly. No matter how busy I get, I like to keep informed about current events. I treated myself to a few new books lately and right now I’m reading The Appeal by John Grisham.
I’m also reading Atonement by Ian McEwan. (Even since I took a course in college on the subject, I’ve been fascinated by how books are translated into film.)
@ Sandy: I enjoy reading Nora Roberts as J.D. Robb, and I’m a fan of Mary Higgins Clark too.
I also just wrapped up Atonement. I figured that I was doing myself a serious injustice by not taking the time to read the novel inspiring an Oscar-winning film. Today I also read/listened to Grammar Girl, and, of course, this blog. Now I feel challenged to look for new sources to incorporate into my Sunday reading!
@Sandy and Jodee – I also love the J.D Robb novels. Read “Strangers in death” a couple of weeks ago. I especially like the way Roberts/Robb’s characters evolve over the series.
I love reading and used to love it. Then graduate school knocked any love of reading out of me for several years and I started reading for fun again a few years ago. At the moment I’m working on a Mary Todd Lincoln biography, the latest Jim Butcher Harry Dresden novel and a collection of short stories. Short stories fit into my time schedule more easily. I also am usually switching between several magazines at any one time, out of interest and looking for possible ideas and markets.
Jodee:
I finished Atonement a few months ago. It’s very good! I’d be interested in your reaction when it’s done.
I subscribe to 3 women’s glossies (target market), so I read those regularly, plus the New Yorker for a dose of different writing, and a science magazine just because. I’ve been reading poetry from an anthology before I go to sleep lately; I’m also reading Marco Polo’s Travels. I recently finished Nicola Barker’s novel Darkmans, which I liked but it also creeped me out, and Doug Crandell’s novel The Flawless Skin of Ugly People, which I really liked. I’ve also been trying to read a biography of Alfred the Great, but that’s not going so well — I think biographies are just not my thing.
I usually switch between mysteries, nonfiction, and chick lit. Hey, does anyone else have dreams in which they’re reading?
I read any magazine I can get my hands on these days. At the moment, I subscribe to Lucky, W, Domino, Cooking Light, and Muscle and Fitness Hers. When times are slow at work I grab a Better Homes and Garden to flip through or find a non-blocked website about DIY crafts to read through.
The library is my home away from home. I fear they may restrict my privileges for checking out too many books in a month. The current library books in my possession are, Sew U by Wendy Mullin, How to Design Your Own Clothes by Claudi Ein, Matisse by Jean Guichard-Meili and Hans Hoffman by Cynthia Goodman. I found a few writing books I might pick up this week. As if I need one more book on writing to add to my collection and delay actually writing something. Hopefully on my visit there will be a copy of Pillars of the Earth by Follett that I can check out.
I am currently in the middle of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier and Collected Stories by Ellen Gilchrist.
My new favorite magazines to read are Oxford American and Brain, Child.
I agree with the advice that one has to be a good reader to be a good writer. Sometimes the things that are a little bit challenging for me to read help me with my writing the most. It helps me craft good sentence structure and inspires creativity.
That said, the most difficult thing I read last year was the instruction manual for my child’s car seat, and I don’t think it helped my writing one bit.
Newspapers…ever since high school, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and newspapers were on stone tablets.
I’m a little late joining this discussion, but I’ve always been a reader, ever since I understood that letters formed words that went together to make sentences to tell stories.
Currently, I’m reading the nonfiction story by John Grisham, “The Innocent Man,” which is both depressing and intriguing. I also subscribe to about 15 magazines/mth and my roommate subscribes to another 8 or 9. I’m not exaggerating.
I am an avid reader. I read my daily newspaper. I read various alternative/independent news sites, and news blogs. I also read books regularly. At the moment I am reading “In the Beginning” by Chaim Potok, “Memoirs of a Geisha” by Arthur Golden, “A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn, and “Hegemony or Survival” by Noam Chomsky. I read magazines: Art in America, Rolling Stone, Spin, The Nation, Mother Jones, and Opera News.
@ Trisha: I finally finished Atonement….I can only say “Wow!” It was the best read I’ve had in a long time. A very well-crafted, very human story.
I read similar article also named , and it was completely different. Personally, I agree with you more, because this article makes a little bit more sense for me
It can be hard to read every day, but I figure if you manage a novel a week, and take the time to get through the newspaper thats about right.