Today I read a little bit of a book called 'Notebook Know-how.' I have a strange love for notebooks (I think it's a writer thing) and the author of this book is a kindred spirit. I think it's going to teach me how to incorporate writing into my minute-to-minute life using a notebook that I carry around with me. I hope that it will teach me how, but more than that, I hope it inspires me to do it.
I picked up 10 books from the library today. I won't be able to get through them all in the allotted time, but I'll be able to peruse them enough to know which ones to keep. Reading is a terribly important part of a writer's life, so I think it's fitting that my last journal entry is here to say that I am embarking on a library-binge.
Oh, danielle, whatever happened to telling your bookloving readers a few sample titles? 10 books, zero titles....
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They could be Madeline, Babar, Little House, Curious George, Dr Seuss, Dr Doolittle! Or they could be War and Peace, Das Kapital, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire! Or something in-between! Danielle is not telling!
More seriously: reading is important, but after a point, not so much--and that point is when your own writing kicks into high gear. I once went two years without reading a book: all my discretionary time was spent at a keyboard.
ReplyDelete"If you want to be a writer you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." ~Stephen King
ReplyDeleteThe thought of two years without reading a single page is terrifying to me, but so exciting. Some day I may pledge to go a year without any reading and devote my time to writing instead. But I simply don't have time for my novels right now. So I'll read. I'll analyze, store away facts and ideas that need reusing, and get inspired. Hopefully my writing will benefit form it. All I know is that right now I can't write a whole lot on a regular basis, but I can sneak a page or two in here and there. If that's all I can do then that's what I will do.
Well, who am I to disagree with Stephen King! (But the best thing you can possibly read are the first-draft words you yourself have written, preferably out loud, to someone you trust.)
ReplyDeleteI really have never understood why reading is supposed to be the high road to writing--and you'll notice that you're stuck in a 101 that does not focus on reading and commenting on other people's writing. That is not an oversight on my part!
So you read 'Moby Dick'--so what? Are you going to imitate Melville? Refer to Ahab in your own writing? Deepen your vow to write? (More likely, you'll be intimidated by the geniuses out there and decide that if you can't write Moby Dick, you won't write anything.)
It's as if someone said that the way to become a good tennis player is to run a marathon. Sure, you can't play tennis unless you can run, but running a lot can be a distraction from being out on the court...playing tennis.
Hmm, can I agree to disagree? Sometimes when I read amazing novels I truly do deepen my vow to write. Sure, I get discouraged by their awesomeness too, but reading good writing helps you write good reading, right?
ReplyDeleteI think a better analogy would be if you wanted to lead an army into battle then it wouldn't be a bad idea to watch previous battles (or read about them) in order to strengthen your own techniques and strategies. Sure, in the end you still have to go out there and fight, but it still helps.
Sure, we can disagree. Analogies exist to be topped!
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