Read to Write

I read an interesting post in a writing forum I participate in debating whether or not one must be an avid reader to be a good writer. According to my husband, no, but since he has nether read a book, nor written one in the ten years I've known him, I'll let that stand for itself. Most authors that I am familiar with absorb books like water, ready to whip out a battered paperback to fill in a tedious wait or even more impressive a mini grammar book to consult for obscure structuring issues.

I admit, I have always filled my leisure time in with reading. In fact I can never recall a time when I did not read. It started nestled against my mother as we read the "Little House" series over and over again. I doubt its a coincidence that those books are still among my favorite reads. I doubt any author has ever described a prairie sky with quite the same emotion as Laura Ingalls Wilder. As a pre-teen I devoured the Sweet Valley High Books and anything by Cynthia Voigt. Not exactly literary gems, but hey they kept me reading. I found Stephen King when I was a teenager reading everything from "Carrie" to "The Stand". I still get chills thinking of those thrillers, and trying my hand at telekinesis myself. Although disheartened that I wasn't so remarkable as Carrie, I was secretly pleased to be rather more ordinary.

I slowly found my way to more literary fiction once I went through Ann Rice's books. I discovered Pearl Buck, Jane Austen, Ursela LeGuin and John Steinbeck. I remember finally finishing "Anna Karena", marveling how Tolstoy could so easily balance life's dichotomies. But I never quite got out of the teen section of the library. It was exceedingly interesting to me to read poignant stories about teenagers with more experience myself. I have to admit when I read Katherine Paterson's "Jacob Have I Loved", I was a thirty year old woman weeping at the end.

I can't imagine trying to write without reading. There is so much to learn from each book, whether its about word choice, or voice, or how to create a rhythm so when you end a chapter its leaves you wanting to keep reading. I have also found that reading passages about what characters are eating bore me to pieces. I hope to never do that to my readers.

Let me know if I do.