WritingThoughts

I spend a lot of time reading.

One of the things that occurred to me was that inside of every writer is, first of all, a reader. I know that it’s true for me. I believe that it’s true for other writers as well.

I cannot remember a time when I did not love to read. Even as a small child, I was one of those kids that read even the back of the cereal box. When I was old enough for my own library card, the absolute highlight of my week was our weekly family trip to the library where I checked out the maximum limit of books (ten).

Writers Are Readers

I’ve never met a writer who didn’t also like to read. It could be that there are some writers who dislike reading, but I’ve never met them. It doesn’t seem to matter what type of writing a writer does, either. It could be fiction, non-fiction, comic books, poetry, technical writing, and so on. I guarantee that there is something that every given writer enjoys to read. Reading is the spark that fuels the desire to write.

Reading, Not a Luxury

It’s easy, in the rush of everyday life and looming deadlines, to forget to allow ourselves the so-called “luxury” of reading. For a writer, however, reading is more than entertainment. It is career development. Constantly exposing ourselves to good writing (regardless of genre) helps us to become better writers ourselves.

So, the next time you sit down with that juicy novel, that fascinating biography, or even a comic book–don’t feel guilty about the time that you are wasting. Instead, embrace your inner reader.

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.