Writing and Reading

A Balance?

You’re a writer but are you also a reader? Do you feel as if you read as much or less than you once did? If you’re reading less, is it because you’re so busy writing each day that you don’t have enough time to read more? Or is there another reason why you might feel you read less than you’d like?

I know several authors who’ve told me they don’t read enough, but also say that between the time they devote to writing and other priorities, they lack the time to read more.

Perhaps another reason you might not read as much as you once did or would like to is because you spend more time following what other writers post online. How much time do you spend daily reading posts on Substack or reading news feeds from other sources? I confess there have been times when I spent more time online than I did writing or reading. Experimenting with computer hardware and software, not to mention alternative operating systems provided a convenient escape and excuse not to read.

A few years go, I decided to catch up on literature I regretted not reading before. In addition to reading and rereading “classic” literature in translation as well as in German, my second language, I’ve also begun to read philosophy and such disciplines as political science. If I were to provide my “to read” list here, many of you might think it is not only overly ambitious but also unrealistic.

Before the internet became de rigeur, I read print newspapers and magazines, as well as books, both in English and in German. For various reasons at the time, I didn’t write much at all. It wasn’t until after I retired that I devoted more time to writing, but still not as much as I could have, but it was a start.

At least I succeeded in writing and publishing my novel, The Writer of Unwritten Books and a collection of short stories, The Prisoner and Other Stories. I also began to write poetry again and a few of my poems and stories have been published in both print and online publications. As I’ve written and posted on Substack, I’m currently compiling a collection of selected poems, tentatively titled “Meanderings: Selected Poems.” Some of the poems have been published in print and online publications and the rest are from a former blog and from what I’ve posted here on Meanderings.

Returning to reading, I’m currently reading five books more or less simultaneously. How do I do that? As mentioned above, my reading is eclectic. Some books take me much longer to read than others, so I read in stages, that is, when I sit down to read, I might read a chapter in, one book, then a chapter in another book. But if the book is a well written crime or mystery novel, I’ll read that in much larger chunks. Presently, I’m halfway through Jo Nesbø’s latest book, Wolf Hour, which I’ll finish in a day or two, depending on how much time I spend reading.

What about the rest of you who write? Are you able to keep up with reading or do you focus primarily on writing? If so, what do you prefer to read and what are you reading now? Please comment below. Thank you for reading.