Balancing Reading and Writing

[nightdreamer]

I'm probably overanalysing this, but...

We all know that anyone aspiring to write must first read. Right now, I'm enjoying Oliver Twist and delighting at Dickens' satirical treatment of Victorian England. On the other hand, when I do a lot of reading, I start feeling guilty that I should be using that time either writing or proofing what I've written, that I'm almost wasting time reading something else.

Has anyone else given thought to an ideal way to balance two competing directives?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I find it really hard. I read really quickly (shock!) once I get into a book, but I write an awful lot, and I do lots of other stuff now, like the twitter profile and queries and all sorts.

I read in the bath, and in the car when waiting for the kids' various activities. If I get into something, I'll read later on as well, but I do struggle. I still read about 20 new books a year, though, and analog about three times a year for shorts, plus reread quite a bit.

 

[allmywires]

I don't read nearly as much as I used to. I don't seem to write much either these days. I mostly just get depressed when I read a good book because I'll never be as good as them! Not guilty.

 

[Hex]

I'm rereading just now (SUNSHINE -- the most fabulous vampire book ever. Though I'm pretty sick of vampires I could never get sick of this book. It has cinnamon rolls too) and feeling guilty about that!

I read when I'm too tired to write, or in bed or in the bath or... actually, that's about it. I don't normally analyse, unless something leaps out at me as good or bad. If I'm reading things I enjoy I'll maybe read two or three books a week, but it used to be a lot more.

I find that reading "business" information -- tweets and blogs and stuff -- is really interesting and useful but it can put me off books I've just started. I just got DIVERGENT from the library and the opening was such a neat and clever piece of worldbuilding, introduced so cleverly, that it put me off reading on. I will, of course, but once upon a time I'd have plunged straight in.

 

[allmywires]

Oh yeah, that's another thing. I can't take my critiquing hat off when reading any more. Always looking for mistakes and plot holes and grammar problems and getting antsy when I find them. Maybe I'd make a better editor than a reader. I'm ruined!

 

[alchemist]

I don't read nearly as much as I used to. I don't seem to write much either these days. I mostly just get depressed when I read a good book because I'll never be as good as them! Not guilty.

I had this recently reading a Banks -- how could I possibly consider myself a SF writer after reading that?!?!


But any reading we do is good, as long as we enjoy it and it inspires.

 

[BetaWolf]

I read rather slowly myself, but I have times when I write. I commute on a bus a few hours a day generally, so I write then mostly.

 

[nightdreamer]

allmywires: Arrggghhh! Now I'm going to feel guilty for leading you to the brink of depression!

 

[allmywires]

allmywires: Arrggghhh! Now I'm going to feel guilty for leading you to the brink of depression!

Pahaha, it's all right, I think I can forgive you. It's not your fault, it's all those damn god writers out there!

 

[Fishbowl Helmet]

Just hit your daily writing time and word count goals. If you're struggling, shoot for fewer words, but don't stop writing. After that read as much as you want. But if you want a ratio, write for an hour or more a day and read for an hour or more a day.

 

[Chel]

I can't fall asleep without reading, so I have that part covered. ....of course, I tend to fall asleep with the book still in my hand, sometimes having read no more than a couple of pages. That doesn't necessarily say anything about how good or bad the book is, though!

As for comparing ourselves to established writers... it's good to have goals, right? Realistic ones, preferably. My personal goal right now is to finish the backbone of my story, get it all written down first so that I can tackle rewriting and editing and all that.
Already, in its current stage, my beta-reader says my book is better than many others she has read, and that gives me something to live on. And I know it's at least better written than some books about... let's say vampires that glitter in sunlight, for example.

Either way, those in the know say to write something every day, even if it's just a few words on a napkin. Some say the best thing is to get to write in the mornings, going from sleeping directly to writing. Maybe that could be something to try if it's otherwise difficult to find the time? Set the alarm for 30 minutes earlier and grab the notebook as soon as you open your eyes and scribble away.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Has anyone else given thought to an ideal way to balance two competing directives?

I think the key is to have a specific slot for writing. You can read anytime around this time slot, but once you read it, you have to sit down and try and write if possible.

 

[prizzley]

I can't take my critiquing hat off when reading any more.

Isn't it awful! I try hard not to critique when I'm reading for pleasure, but inevitably I spot howlers. But while they're howlers to me, maybe they're hallelujahs for other readers. As someone once misquoted: "One man's meat is another man's poisson.'

 

[The Judge]

Since buggering my back I've become more aware of all those studies that say sitting for too long is bad for you, so I make myself get up every 20-30 mins or so when I'm writing. We live in a bungalow and have all the internal doors open, and I walk up and down for 5 minutes just to get the muscles moving properly. I use that time to read. It doesn't sound much, but over the day it adds up. It makes for disjointed reading admittedly, but I cope, and if I'm engrossed the 5 mins can become 10 or 20. (And no, I don't walk into things -- except the cats who have a tendency to stop right in front of me.)

 

[nightdreamer]

(And no, I don't walk into things -- except the cats who have a tendency to stop right in front of me.)

Cats are like that. They are born with an innate desire to be tread upon.

I do set short-term goals. For example, today I HAVE to get the last of a set of revisions from my Kindle to the original. And some weekends I've been able to crank out 20,000 fairly coherent and readable words. But I'm half afraid to set any kind of regular goals. I'm also a graduate student in physical chemistry, and that can be quite demanding of time. I think I'd worry that if I set for myself the goal of 1000 words per day, and wasn't able to meet it, that I'd be abnegating myself for not having failed. We do live in such a high-pressure society.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

I don't read and write at the same time. Instead I read when my husband is off work or we are on holiday.

At Christmas I read about twenty books when he was off for two weeks. I'll put aside another week or two in the summer when we are spending time at the beach and read another handful of books.

Because I was writing Mayhem in present tense I found past tense annoyed me when I was working on it.

When writing something in past tense I may reread books I have already read for an hour before bed.

 

[chrispenycate]

Ah. Missed out on that one.

I've always been a reader, as far back as I can remember (we won't go into why I'm amnesiac before the age of seven, but family legend puts me at four, on the first day of primary school while all around children are wailing at the departure of parents, about being deserted in this mob of strangers, sitting quietly in a corner, thumb in mouth and nose in book), but writing has come late to me. As I have no reasonable expectation of commercial exploitation (and merely the word use in this sentence should demonstrate why) I read whenever I have anything unread, and space to do so, in various public spaces, modes of transport (not yet while skiing), in bed, at table, at work while the computer renders files, or reread when nothing new comes to hand, but when something niggles around in my brain, wants to be written, I can't concentrate on the reading until it is on paper, or ensconced in electronic form, which might take several days; I carry notebooks with me everywhere, so getting it down is no real problem (unlike getting it right).

Obviously, this is not going to be great for getting books written, agents hooked and fame expanding; but we've already noted, I'm not really anticipating much of this. So I have a natural advantage over optimists.

 

[Coragem]

Make whatever reading time you have count. Go slow. Think about how/why the author does what they do. With a pen and paper to hand, make a note if there's a something that makes you think, Wow, I'd love to be able to do that.

Coragem.

 

[Christopher Lee]

When I read and start to feel like I should be writing, I just remind myself how much this author probably read when he was learning his craft. You have to make time for both, but you can't let loving to read make you feel guilty.

Read to enjoy the story. Write your own story. Don't ruin your reading experience by critiquing people who have published a novel. In most cases, none of us technically are qualified to indulge in such, because we haven't published anything. Just enjoy the stories and you'll naturally write stories others will enjoy also.

Sometimes I think many people aspiring to write would be better suited for teaching grammar and plot structure to ignorant young children, rather than writing their own book. Because they spend too much time finding faults in books that have been deemed acceptable for publication. Don't over-analyze something that has been published; they're doing something that you're not.

 

[Chel]

Grizzgreen, that something has been published doesn't always mean it's should have.
I think more works have not been published that should have.

But, if we should not critique - and pinpoint what we like or don't like about a book - because we are not published (yet!), how are we to learn?

I'm currently reading The Valisar Trilogy by Fiona McIntosh. I find it mostly enjoyable, a fairly standard Fantasy-world with a nice plot. But then there's two characters getting married, and the rituals are very 21-st century Western Christian culture Our-Earth. And that jarred me right out of the book, no matter that it's well written.

So, because Fiona McIntosh is a published author, and I am not, I should not learn from that scene? Chances are, if I react on it, someone else will too. Chances are that if I(an unpublished writer) wrote my own Fantasy-wedding scene so closely inspired by the real world, I would remain unpublished, or at the very least would be asked by future agents and/or publishers to change it.

If we can't critique and analyze published authors, who should we critique?