Writing & Reading: Togetherness
In order to write better one needs to read more. Have you ever heard that? Well it is true. Reading published works provides prospective on how to write one’s own work. It gives insight to what the market looks like in case you want to attempt publication of your own book. Books open minds so they can see the world on the page as a safe place. This is where dinosaurs walk around holding hands and become aliens. It is a world where zombies bake pies and invite you to have tea and not be eaten. Books are another dimension that take us on a journey to see all things are possible within the covers. They enlighten our brains to think outside the box when constructing our own stories. They allow us to open our writing to a wider audience.
Everyone has a story in them. If you have a few people witnessing an event together and afterwards you ask what each person saw, well all the stories would be different. Each person takes the event in differently, experiences it differently, and reacts differently. Each one of us has a story that we could tell like no one else. When we write it, we hear all the voices of the books we have read. They are in the back of our mind and when we tell our own story then a tiny part of everything we ever read slips in. Some bad and some good, but the end product will be our story, our words, and our experiences seen through our eyes and written down to be shared with the world.
Reading our written book has the same effect on our readers. We share our words and our story, they take it in, and they in turn adjust it into the constructs of how they view the world. Once our story is finalized and in the published, our readers now own it. The readers read within the context of their own lives. They take in what writers write, but they also in turn spin out new tales from their own perspectives. Perhaps they will hear your voice, your words when they themselves go to publish a book. Our world of writing and reading is a circle. We read, we write, we add parts of others people information we read into our writing; a reader reads again and the story goes on.
Writers block is an issue for writers. We are frozen. Words leave our minds, our hands hang over the keys, and we cannot and will not write! Until, we read again. Thoughts start dancing in our minds. Perhaps Zombies can make us tea and not want to eat us. (I am convinced there can be a great book on friendly zombies. Someone get on that for me. ) If reading does not work then go to a coffee shop and pretend to read. Honestly, bits of people’s conversations that you overhear will get your mind wheeling at 900 mph. See a man reading in the corner, what is he reading, why he chose that book, and off you go writing again. Writers block is horrible, but might I suggest a good book to help? Other’s people’s words inspire us to get our stuck words back out of us.
Reading and writing go together to a proficient writer. Reading another person’s words motivates us, inspires us to do it too, and pushes us through our writers block. Reading may seem like a waste of time when you want to write, but not one moment spent reading is wasted to writers. Reading is fuel to our tortured souls. (Though some of us are far from tortured) Words in either medium carry the potential to harm or help. The books we read and/or write have significance behind them to us. Both can propel your work forward, so might I suggest picking up a book, read for a while and when the itch hits, go write your heart out!
