I LOVE to write. I am not so keen on reading. Not to say that I don't read (I do whenever I have a chance) but if I find myself with 3 hours free on a Thursday evening, I am more likely to go to a coffe/tea house and write than I am to go home and read. Am I a wierdo or is that semi-normal?
Well... given that this is a writing website, I would'nt have thought it was that weird to have a passion for writing over just reading. Though mostly, you need to read as much as you need to write in order to understand the market, audience, and to further your abilities in producing your own work. I love reading and writing in equal amounts.
I read. A lot. It's been killing me that since the start of uni I haven't had much time to read anything but textbooks. But a certain wonderful gal came along with a load of books for me to read, and now I can't stop
Totally off topic (Hey, I can thread-jack my own thread): What does UNI stand for across the pond? I assume University of Northern Iowa is incorrect, but I have seen it a lot recently.
They mean university in general, no particular one. And it's not unusual. The only thing is, to get good at anything, part of the learning process is observing how others do it as much as possible. For writes, that means reading. It doesn't have to be a lot. A few pages a day is enough. So I guess you have to decide what your goal is as a writer.
It's not an acronym. It's uni, which is short for university. Specifically, I'm at the University of Sussex, if you want to know
Lol Ima get this thread back on topic. I think that you need to enjoy both equally to understand the craft of writing itself. You can't read all the time, then you'll never write obviously, and you can't write all the time, because then you might get off on uniform ways to do things when writing for publishing. Although I can admit to having writing and reading moods.
I like to read... but only very specific texts, lol. I am very much narrow minded when it comes to what I find appealing in the wide world of literature. I really like reading poetry, comedy scripts and psych. and philosophy texts. That's about it. I more or less can't bear to read novels.. because I've the attention span of a newly hatched goldfish.. so I basically lose interest by the second page. Lol, way to give the author a chance I know.
Though I got too much to read for classes, I read a novel or two a week in addition to writing. For me it wouldn't be healthy to not read, because I'll get into a rut--like this moment actually--where I'll want to write a certain way like one author, because his style is in my head, and can't write how I'd want to write it. There's just some killing off of all forms of creativity. So I read a lot to find multiple ways of expressing myself.
to become a good writer, one must be a good and constant reader of good writing... period... fact of life...
I am also consistently told that to be able to play guitar with any amount of skill, one must take lessons, study theory, spend weeks memorizing scales... I disagreed with those people and, three years after first starting to play, have yet to come across a situation that my self-learned skills have not been able to handle (unless it's a matter of playing quickly, which my finger muscles just can't handle yet... but that's another story). That's just a long way of saying I disagree. Seldom is anyone able to say "You MUST" or "You MUST NOT" about anything, certainly not when it comes to honing a skill like writing or playing music. That is a fact of life.
I have heard several authors say in interviews that if you want to learn how to be a good writer you should read lots and lots and lots of books. That being said... I love to read. I would rather read than do pretty much anything else. However, that's just me. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you if you don't enjoy it as much as I do. I don't think a person's skill in writing is directly related to how many books or how often they read, I just think experiencing the technique and style of other authors can help narrow down what sort of writing you like and what sort you'd rather avoid.
When I was younger, like 10 or 11, I sort of felt the same way.... but then in junior high we had some program called AR or whatever (don't remember) and that actually really got me into reading. Ever since I've realized the importance of reading for writers.
I think you're making the wrong comparison here. Lessons and memorizing scales are not the musical equivilant to reading. People were learning how to play instruments long before they were able to study scales and theory. They learned by listening to music and watching others play. What kind of musician never listens to music? Reading is the same thing.
I don't think it's bizarre to have various priorities or things you enjoy doing over reading. You don't seem to be saying that you don't enjoy reading at all and/or refuse to pick up a book... There are lots things that help to hone the craft of writing - reading just happens to be a very, very good one.
The point I was trying to make was that I have yet to see a "rule" related to honing a skill that applies to everyone. Hence the example I used. I see what you're getting at. My point still stands, though. Not all musicians watch others play or listen to any noteworthy amount of music. I've even met someone who loved to play piano, but hated listening to other people play. There was also someone in my school's choir a few years back who outright refused to listen to anyone who didn't sing in her vocal range... Both kind of strange, I know. The task of honing a skill is different for everyone, and what works for one person may be frustrating for another. To use myself as an example, no matter how many times I tell myself I am going to read something with the goal of improving my own writing, I concentrate completely on the story and the characters, not the writing itself. Whenever I do manage to shift my focus, I become bored within minutes and give up. If anything, the only things I ever pick up from reading are plot structures and character interactions. The rest, as they say, goes in one ear (or eye, in this case) and out the other.
Well I love to write poetry but hate reading it.... Apparently I'm quite good at it but poetry doesn't necessarily need to be read to have a good skill at it
So don't concentrate on the technical stuff. If you have a natural talent, you don't need to do it consciously. You'll pick it up through instinct. I still wonder what kind of real musician has little or no interest in listening to music.
