Writers Reading

Are you a writer who reads?
Was there a book in which you became completely lost in the characters? I read Tolkien's trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, and became involved in the characters in their struggle of good against evil. Tolstoy's books have made me aware that theme is repeated in some form or other in most of the books I've read. 

Suzannah from Write It Sideways has some thoughts on Writers reading.

1. Renew Your Love of Reading

Do you remember the first book you ever loved, perhaps one that was read to you over and over again as a child? Or the first book you read all by yourself? Or that love story you read as a teenager that made you fall in love with falling in love?

“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was.” — Ernest Hemingway

I’m wiling to bet there isn’t a writer, dead or alive, who hasn’t been transformed by reading. But when was the last time you got lost in a wonderful story?

If you believe, as I do, that writers do half the work and readers do the other half, then the act of reading is an act of writing.

Maybe we need a new word to describe this phenomenon, but for right now, make a writerly commitment to enjoy reading on a regular basis. Make a date with the library or that pile of books on your nightstand, and rediscover the joy of reading.

Read the rest of this article. Contact suzannah@writeitsideways.com>