Don’t turn reading into a chore!
You will lose interest in it
It will be surprising to say I love reading but yet I struggle to finish reading on time for my exams. But is my reality. I can choose to read a random story on quora than to study my examinable material.
Why?
Because they oblige me to read the examinable material. I do not have a sense of choice. But the articles I choose to read on the internet may even have the same length as my examinable work and I will not mind reading internet stories than push myself to study my work because in those I choose when I want to read and what I want to read.
So I have realized that when reading becomes compulsory, we lose interest in it.
And so I do not read someone’s article just because they must read mine. That can be alright in the short run but it is not sustainable in the long run. You will get tired, and the reading might become like the examinable material that I have to read and it takes away the joy and pleasure one derives from reading.
So read what interests you no matter who the writer is. Those who will read what you write should be those that are interested in the kind of things you write about.
There is so much joy in reading. Reading is therapeutic. Sometimes it makes you laugh, sometimes it makes you cry or feel sad, other times it teaches you and other times it makes you think and sometimes makes you change your mindset on something.
But if it is done because someone read your article and you are obliged to read theirs, It becomes a job. And the only reason people really go to work most of the time is that they get paid to do it. When they stop being paid, they stop working. So if you read because someone reads your article, eventually you will stop as they at a point can not keep reading only your articles even when they have no interest in them.
So do not turn reading into a chore before you lose interest in it.
Read for your pleasure whether the other person read your article or not. It should not matter! You do not read only to support others though it is good to support others and I am not saying we should not support each other but I am just trying to get us to remove the expectation that because we read someone’s article they have to read ours back.
If you are truly a writer, you certainly have something that will be useful to someone somewhere. Even if initially you do not have as many readers as you wish to have, someday they will discover you. Being a successful writer with a faithful reader base is amongst the things that take time to achieve.
So be patient and just read!
The first time I read Mark Mason’s book was when he had already become a known writer. But the 8 to 10 years he was blogging I did not know him. And now, I'm a loyal buyer of his books and searched his website and became a regular visitor.
The same thing goes for Malcolm Gladwell. I buy any of his books if I come across them. He doesn't know me and might never but his books are amazing. Does he have to come here to read what I write before I can buy his books, of course not.
Because me reading his books is for myself first. It is not because he reads or not the small articles I publish on Medium.
Read for yourself whenever you can but at all costs read. Because reading broadens your knowledge base, your understanding and will make you discover or learn things you did not even know anything about. It makes you see things from others’ perspectives as well. Reading transforms you but only when you do it as a choice, not as an obligation.
Maturity will ask you to read and learn and not worry about who is reciprocating or not. Because reading from a vast diversity of writers will change your life.
