IFFY FICTION

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson’s words are true for writers. They’re equally true for people who sports and brunch. You know, those other people.

If you’ve read a book, it’s now a part of you.

The things you learned, the images your mind generated, the way you see yourself and the people you know reflected in imaginary characters, the love or hate or compassion you feel for them, the wisdom whispered across millennia — all of it. Once you’ve read it, it’s yours. And you are forever altered.

For people who choose to never read a book, well… I guess you’re just made of Netflix and memes. Though, I admit I’m partly those things, too.

Look, reading books is just good. We all know it. I don’t need to persuade you. Anyone who says otherwise is just making excuses for why they don’t read.

But for writers, reading is half the equation. A writer should read with purpose. A writer should read widely. A writer should slow down, read analytically, dissect what the author has done and how they’ve done it. A writer shouldn’t read mass market thrillers, skimming over words as long as they still get the gist.

I certainly don’t.

I’m lying. I’m what you might call a sporadic reader. A feast or famine reader. I binge. And then I starve.

I slog through the denser classics, ticking off items from a “Books You Must Read Before You Die” list. I measure the list against my remaining years. I’ll never get through it all. And the older I get, the less I want to.

I sometimes quit a book after 10 pages. Sometimes halfway through. I used to finish them all. Then I’d give any book I began 100 pages. Now there are no rules.

As T.S. Eliot said, “Life is very long.”

Until it’s not.

Sometimes half of my Goodreads Challenge consists of audiobooks. Sometimes more. Let’s not talk about how many of them are trashy thrillers.

My point is, whatever you read, in whatever format, if you want to write, you’ve just got to do it. Stephen King famously said, “writers write.” The man reads 100 books a year.

So, I’m proposing a new credo for writers — “writers read.” Because you can write all day every day, but if you never read… let’s just say no one will want to read you.

Says the person who hasn’t sat down to read today…

Photo by Alfons Morales on Unsplash