Readers And/Or Writers

Hi Fellow Writers,

I've always wondered how other writers relationships with reading is:

Is it for you two absolutely intertwined things that informs each other? Or do you like to separate the two (do you even like to read)?

And if yes, are you more a writer or a reader? Sorry if this is blaspheme in a writer's forum.

For me, I've also read more than I write, and I don't believe I would write if I wasn't simply a massive fan of stories and books. On the other hand, I have kept up reading through periods where I haven't written.

Best,
G.

 

I've never been a reader of books. I find reading somewhat arduous and tend to only manage a few pages at a time. I suspect I'm slightly dyslexic although this has never been formally diagnosed. At school I was so bad at English I needed additional lessons and still wasn't considered good enough to be entered for the basic exam ('O' level). I've read several books since then, and I enjoy writing. I feel I need to read more to improve my writing. I know I should make the effort to pick up a book and read it but somehow I just don't get around to doing that. I'm suffering from readers-block if there is such a thing.

 

That's a shame. Can you not read on the loo before work? That's the only time really if you got a wife and stuff.

Why don't you read science fiction, 200 pages, Philip K Dick, Arthur C Clarke, Roald Dahl short stories is very soothing & easy reading - would suit your logic sense... ...

 

I don't read as much as I personally think I should. A lot of my ideas and technique come from reading, which I see as a form of self-teaching the writing craft. My first ideas came from reading fan fiction/watching anime/playing games. So I believe I have to consume media to create new media.

 

I used to read just for enjoyment, but since I've started writing my relationship with reading has gone from 'in-a-relationship' to 'its-complicated'.

 

I do both. But I tend to enjoy reading things that can capture me into the story, but I try to choke down some
less than ideal stories too (approx. 2-20 pages at a time depending on how crap the story is).

To be honest on the writing front, I feel I have written more on shorts and not as much on my WIP.
I know this is not the case, because between the shorts I have worked on they don't add up to the
40k currently written so far on my second novel. Going to chalk that up to being a panster working
on a longer than one novel story (hoping it ends in the second, no point in dragging it out into a serial
like some people would do).

Reading: Horror, Sci-fi, Comedy, Romance, and Erotica.
Writing is about the same throughout, with the exception being Horror.

 

There is such a thing! I used to read every book around from I could until I was 12. Then I stopped and picked up Harry Potter (cliche, I know but it's sooo good) at 14 and have been reading ever since!

I am sad that you got's such a rough start with reading. I didn't like reading and writing at school because I just don't believe that creativity should have all the limits we usually give them. I hope you will soon pick up a book that you just can't put down because it brings such an immense joy to many!

 

That's interesting! I think it's the opposite with me! Since I've begun writing everyday, my love for reading has gone totally head over heels - I'll do anything for you my darling books. It might almost be unhealthy.

But I think I just feel more free when reading because I am not worried whether I am doing it 'right' (I probably shouldn't be when writing either, but I am).

 

Haha. Unfortunately, I do not have husband and children yet but I imagine I will enforce story-telling and reading together every evening after dinner just so that I can get my doze of literature

 

So you don't always finish books? I don't think I've ever done that. I read everything, every genre (though very little crime for no reason at all), every quality and reread them all over again

 

I have finished many books, just not as many as when I was a kid. I think I have finished maybe half-a-dozen or so, but to be fair they were all within the 300+ page range.
I am still working on like 2-3 right now. Also I have read a few shorter stories off the ole Kindle. Should probably finish the Foundation Trilogy, seeing as I am about a 1/4 of
the way through the third in the series.

 

I read a lot, and I do mean a lot. After school, in school, between classes... It's necessary for me to read anything and everything that way I can learn what works in books and what doesn't in writing.

A writer like myself learns most of their skills from practicing and trying and remaking others skills to fit my needs.

In other words I read more than I write.

Also, when I do write I tend to write random sentences until my creativity spikes. It usually only takes about ten to fifteen minutes of nonsense.

 

For a long time, I had a bad reading habit: I'd read the same books by the same authors over and over and over, always off my own shelves. It was like I was afraid I'd be disappointed by contemporary fiction. And I had this weird idea that I had to buy the books I read, and what if I spent money I couldn't afford on something awful?

But since I've begun writing in earnest, I've heeded the advice of those who say writers need to be readers, too. And you know, there's this building about a half mile away called the Memorial Library, and I can check books out of there FOR FREE, and if I don't like them, I don't even have to finish them; I can take them back, no cost, no obligation. (Yeah, I also have to take them back if I like them. ) You're hearing this, mind you, from a woman who's been going to the library since she was a small girl. What was my problem, anyway?

And then there's the free or 99c books off Amazon that I can read on my Kindle app. That's opened things up, too.

I've got four very different novels out from the library right now. Too bad I haven't time to write Goodreads reviews of them all.

 

Do you enjoy reading short stories? The reason I am asking is that I write more shorts and novellas though I read much more novels with 200+ pages. So I am little out of touch with the short story readers.

 

I do both. I have a schedule to write, and a schedule to read. It's the only organized part of my life

 

This question is so odd to me that I had to think before replying. I've been a reader ever since I learned how to read. Before, even, when I demanded stories to be read to me. And new stories too, I was never much in the mood for listening the same old fairy tales! I wanted new ones! Maybe it was a shock for me when I understood there were no more new fairy tales. I'd heard them all already. Adults around me were depleted, lol! Maybe that begins to explain, in a nutshell, what led me to writing myself. I wanted stories that weren't written yet.
In search of these stories, still, I devour book after book. But I'm an increasingly demanding reader so it's not just any book that will do. When I'm nearing finishing a book and I haven't found a suitable replacement yet, I get tremors. Signs of addiction become noticeable, like keeping stashes of books long before I'm able to read them. I just feel more comfortable knowing that I have them if I need them.
Now that I've painted a clear enough picture of my addiction to books, here's the part where writing and reading cross paths.

I'm convinced that writing has robbed me of a great amount of enjoyment of books.
I didn't notice it at first, but I've started to notice it when I began editing my work. Now I find myself "editing" the books I read as well. Even my favourite authors get edited. I'm reading a book and having a conversation with the author in my mind, "see, this comma shouldn't go here; this character shouldn't say it like this, it's a bit out of character", and so on, and so on...
But I still manage to satisfy my cravings, so it's all good.

I have to read every day, if only a little. If I don't have time, I make time. I'm an addict like that. I sympathise with what @matwoolf said about the loo. I don't spend that much time in the loo but force me into a corner and I'll shut myself in the loo, pretending to do other things while I'm in fact reading, if I have to. Addicts can be extremely resourceful when it comes to their addictions.
This is the one addiction I'll never give up, ever.

 

I read like crazy before I started writing, then only wrote for a couple years, and then started reading again. Now I'd say I split my available time just about evenly between reading and writing.

 

Luckily, I never suffered from that affliction.
(I do understand the part about spending money, I do! I work through it borrowing books from everyone I can persuade into borrowing. People realise very quickly that I'm a fast reader and I *do* return the books. After all, they're my suppliers, I want those books to keep coming. )
But I haven't suffered from the affliction of reading the same books time after time. I read my favourite books twice: once for the story, twice for the details. Then I want to read something new. I painfully know that there will always be so much that I'll never be able to read in my lifetime, fiction and non-fiction. I tend to be completely immersed in the books I like while I'm reading them to a point that I do absorb it and it stays with me forever, but then I move on. So much more to read, so much more to discover!

 

@G. Anderson I do enjoy short stories.

 

Lately, I've done so very little of both. When I was younger, I read most of the time; before, during, after class, before bed, and on weekends. Now, it has been very hard to pick up a book and just sit and read, though I try to find time during lunch at work. Writing as well; during my early twenties I was writing enough that I thought I could make a career out of it. Now, it's like trying to push a massive wall just to get a few sentences on a page. I do wonder where my motivation went. Probably down the bottomless pit of negativity.