[TheChamp-Sharing]

SHOW NOTES

Writers write. Readers read. But as a professional writer, I’ve found it difficult to balance the two. In this week’s episode I talk about my struggle to find time to read.

TRANSCRIPT

Before I was a writer, I was a reader. A prolific reader. But when I started writing, reading became a struggle for me. In this week’s episode, I’m going to talk about that.

***

Hello, and welcome to episode 30. I wanted to talk this week about writing versus reading, because for me, it’s a constant struggle.

I was a prolific reader before I started writing professionally. I read at least 200 books or so a year.

In fact, I co-hosted a podcast where I talked about the books I was reading. It was called the To Be Read Podcast, and we did over 100 episodes talking about the books we loved. That show was cool because it forced me to keep reading so I could have something to talk about every week. I’ll drop a link to it in the show notes.

I was also active at my local library. Des Moines has a great library system, so I used it for inter library loans, and I used Overdrive to check out a lot of ebooks and audiobooks.

And of course, don’t get me started on Amazon. I bought books practically every week, so much that it was becoming a problem. Ask my wife.

Pretty much, if I wanted to find a book, I could find it. And I read a lot of books that were outside of the mainstream. That’s why I think I approach writing differently than others.

When I decided to become a professional writer, however, it became very difficult to balance writing with reading. After all, I still had a full-time job to worry about, and night classes, and a family to raise. And I found that I had to keep up with a lot of podcasts and blogs in order to be successful at writing. So naturally, reading fell by the wayside for me, which is something I hate and it dogs me literally every day.

I still read, but not at the level I used to. If I’m lucky, I read maybe 50 books a year, which is pitiful if you knew how much I used to read.

So, when I become more successful in my career, I’ve always said that I’ll use extra time to read and consume.

I write plenty of novels per year and writing quantity is not a problem for me.

If I can ever put myself in a position where I’m writing full time, I’ve always said that I’ll be a full-time reader and keep the amount of writing I do the same.

I’ve tried to cut down in my word counts and read more, but I always get anxious when I’m not writing. I’m always striving for personal bests, so to write less just makes me lose sleep.

I’ve also adopted audiobooks as my primary listening vehicle, listening when I’m in my car to and from work and doing chores. But that still doesn’t quite replace the time lost.

Writing vs reading is one of the biggest struggles I believe writers have to deal with, finding the time to read when writing is your primary job.

I know you can’t write if you don’t read, but if you don’t write, you don’t have a career. So it’s a difficult balance. At least for me.

But I’m committed to reading. It’s how I got my start.

Reading for me is like writing; it’s as sacred as prayer. It’s how I discover the inner workings of other people and learn my own inner workings.

But boy, it’s not easy to read when you are a writer. And definitely something I wish someone had told me when I started writing.

I suppose nothing in life is perfect. This kind of balance struggle is what keeps life interesting, you know? If it wasn’t a struggle between writing and reading, it would be something else. So I’ve just learned to live with the discomfort and I make sure that I do enjoy the little time I have to read.

Check out the To Be Read Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0PiSCERUfn2qXBQccvgvMg 

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” Joseph Addison

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS WEEK'S EPISODE?

 Let me know!