Writers who don't read

[MrHereWriting]

Writers who don't read​

Only write 1 draft.

(How many books do you need to read a year to be considered a "reading" writer?)

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Only write 1 draft.

(How many books do you need to read a year to be considered a "reading" writer?)

Fair question.
If, as many people here have commented, you are at a stage in your life where you don't have the time, just reading a book or two a year. The issue really arose from people who said they don't read for pleasure at all, and essentially never have.

 

[OralAllOver]

Kurt Vonnegut

and

Jared Diamond

 

[Voboy]

I think I'm a pretty decent writer.

Every ounce of that, I credit to being a voracious reader during my formative years. And I skipped the kiddo books; I read Lord of the Rings for the first time at age nine, and stuck with it all the way through. I read it at least annually for many years after.

Did I grasp everything? Not really. Did I get an annual masterclass in how to set up sentences and construct narratives using clear prose? You betcha.

That was a solid foundation. After that, all I had to do was learn about more interesting verbs.

 

[crookedletter]

I do find myself puzzled when I go to an author's bio-page for the first time (usually because I enjoyed one or more of their stories and what to know more about them) and find that their 'favorites' section, both for other authors and stories, are blank

I’m guilty of this, unfortunately. I read a lot, but I don’t read a lot here. Not by any matter of principle, I wish I could carve out some more time to read some fellow Lit authors’ stuff. But between all the other things I want to read and write and whatever else it always seems to fall through the cracks.

 

[MrHereWriting]

And I skipped the kiddo books; I read Lord of the Rings for the first time at age nine, and stuck with it all the way through.

So you never read Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark?

You missed out.

 

[caleb35]

Several good comments in this good thread. My one addition, for those who are not avid readers, read what you can when you can. Maybe you're not a bookworm, or maybe it's just a phase, but reading at least some constant amount remains one of the best avenues to assisting you in your own writing.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think I'm a pretty decent writer.

Every ounce of that, I credit to being a voracious reader during my formative years. And I skipped the kiddo books; I read Lord of the Rings for the first time at age nine, and stuck with it all the way through. I read it at least annually for many years after.

Did I grasp everything? Not really. Did I get an annual masterclass in how to set up sentences and construct narratives using clear prose? You betcha.

That was a solid foundation. After that, all I had to do was learn about more interesting verbs.

Some of my all-time favorite books, to this day, are "children's" books that I read as a kid, like Charlotte's Web, James and the Giant Peach, The Secret Garden. But I think it helps a lot to get going with adult fiction at an early age. This century it seems like things have reversed, with adults reading "young-adult" fiction like The Hunger Games.

From what I have read, university professors increasingly are noting the inability and/or unwillingness of their students to read books. It's making class assignments difficult. I can't imagine. To me it's like breathing.

I don't know how one could write well without a background of reading.

 

[SmilingLez]

I prefer hardback books when it comes to reading, there's something about physically turning a page; and I probably read 10 to 12 books a year.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I prefer hardback books when it comes to reading, there's something about physically turning a page; and I probably read 10 to 12 books a year.

I'm probably betraying my generation, but I agree. I've tried a kindle, but it isn't the same.

 

[dirk2024]

I consider myself an avid reader and it does occasionally get in the way of writing. Depends on my emotions at the time.

I read as a kid (Johnny Tremain anyone?) then in my teens it was a lot of science and fantasy fiction. Tolkein, Donaldson, Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlen. Then I moved away from SciFi (sticking primarily to Fantasy), but oddly enough, have gravitated back to SciFi since joining this site two years ago.

There are a lot of writers here that I enjoy nowadays.

 

[_Lynn_]

I read everything I could (that I was allowed to from the school or church library) when I was a kid. Now? Rarely. I find most books either predictable or boring.

 

[dirk2024]

I prefer hardback books when it comes to reading, there's something about physically turning a page; and I probably read 10 to 12 books a year.

I'm probably betraying my generation, but I agree. I've tried a kindle, but it isn't the same.

I used to love books. I think my last was reading the Game of Thrones series in hardback.

But its either my laptop or Kindle for me now, as I can increase the font size and read it with white text on a black background.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I used to love books. I think my last was reading the Game of Thrones series in hardback.

But its either my laptop or Kindle for me now, as I can increase the font size and read it with white text on a black background.

Kindle is tolerable, but reading for fun on a normal (laptop/tablet/phone) screen is ick. I can read on paper for hours. On a screen I need a break after 20 or 30 minutes.
Slows my writing down too...

 

[SmilingLez]

I'm probably betraying my generation, but I agree. I've tried a kindle, but it isn't the same.

I also can't get into audiobooks. The speaker's voice ruins the voice in my head

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I also can't get into audiobooks. The speaker's voice ruins the voice in my head

I listen to Audiobooks when I'm working out, and it's awesome. I will say that a bad narrator can ruin a book.

 

[PennameWombat]

I find that so bizarre. Why would you want to invest years of your life creating something you have no interest in consuming? You are writing a book that you yourself would have no interest in reading.

It's like a Vegan deciding they want to be a BBQ Champion.

Yes. But I have the feeling the majority of those posters never actually write anything. I've never been able to track this back to its source, I didn't originate this. But can't find its Patient Zero:

They don't want to write a book. They want to have written a book.

 

[PennameWombat]

I prefer hardback books when it comes to reading, there's something about physically turning a page; and I probably read 10 to 12 books a year.

I'm probably betraying my generation, but I agree. I've tried a kindle, but it isn't the same.

I don't read heavily on this site. Maybe I'd do better in the contests if I studied past winners more carefully. But it is what it is.

The bulk of my daily "reading," and it's daily, is now audiobooks. These allow me to read while I'm commuting, driving, walking, running, mowing the lawn, doing other chores, all of which allow me to get a fairly decent amount of 'consumption of material' in most days. Split about 50-50 fiction and non-fiction. But I can't do them when I'm just sitting.

While I'm of the generation when paper was king, at my current point in life, the inability to adjust the font shape and size on paper makes my ability to read on paper for long stretches... painful. So audio is my preference, but with digital devices, I can play with the settings to make it visibly tolerable. Also slows writing down, because even with all of that adjusted, I can handle only so long.

 

[MrHereWriting]

I also can't get into audiobooks. The speaker's voice ruins the voice in my head

I'm luckier than you. The voices in my head enjoy audiobooks, then we like discussing it amongst ourselves and while we don't always agree on the quality of the story, rarely are we dissapointed by them.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I don't read heavily on this site. Maybe I'd do better in the contests if I studied past winners more carefully. But it is what it is.

The bulk of my daily "reading," and it's daily, is now audiobooks. These allow me to read while I'm commuting, driving, walking, running, mowing the lawn, doing other chores, all of which allow me to get a fairly decent amount of 'consumption of material' in most days. Split about 50-50 fiction and non-fiction. But I can't do them when I'm just sitting.

While I'm of the generation when paper was king, at my current point in life, the inability to adjust the font shape and size on paper makes my ability to read on paper for long stretches... painful. So audio is my preference, but with digital devices, I can play with the settings to make it visibly tolerable. Also slows writing down, because even with all of that adjusted, I can handle only so long.

I don't like doing non-fiction via audio books. I find there are the points that I want to pause and mull over, or go back and reread a section to really wrap my head around a concept and it's just too clunky on audiobooks for me.
I'm like you I can't audiobook and just sit around, but it's wonderful when I'm doing other things.