How To Be A Bad Writer

On By MIn On Writing

Credit to/graphic taken from: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jenniferschaffer/literature-is-freedom#.ck4xm2kG3

Everywhere I turn, I see articles, blog posts, memes and quotes saying things like “Good writers read”.

Well, I guess that makes me a bad writer.

As a child and a teenager, I could easily devour several novels a week. I would read at every single opportunity – waiting for the bus or subway and then reading during the commute. If I’d had a choice between reading a book or hanging out with a friend, the decision would have been easy.

My love for reading was strong and unflinching.

A true love story.

I remember the good old days of holding back my laughter at a funny part in a book (to avoid the “Is she crazy?” look from strangers) or reading something a little risqué and foolishly looking over my shoulder as if the stranger next to me somehow knew what I was reading.

Then I went to law school.

With my head constantly stuck in hundreds of unrelenting, dry and boring law-related daily reading, my desire for reading for pleasure quickly died. Even after graduating, I would have preferred to watch paint dry than pick up a novel by one of my favorite authors. It took me years to pick up a book for pure enjoyment but even then, the feeling wasn’t the same.

These days, most of my novel reading is done on vacation and when I am away from home. If I’m in a lounge chair on the beach or next to a pool for 7 days, I can easily slay 5 decent sized-novels. But in my day to day life, I just can’t read consistently.

I totally agree that reading another writer’s words provides inspiration and that exploring other genres expands the mind. It’s only logical that “writing” and “being a reader” go hand in hand.

I just need to find a way to bring those “reading vacation reading flings” back home with me post-vacations.

I’m on a quest to fall back in love with being an avid reader.

I long for that blissful feeling in my life again.

Credit to/graphic taken from: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jenniferschaffer/literature-is-freedom#.ck4xm2kG3

What about you? Are you an avid reader? What’s on your To Be Read (TBR) list for 2018?

©2018 Marquessa Matthews. All Rights Reserved.

Updated from the originally posted March 17, 2016 version

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46 thoughts on “How To Be A Bad Writer”

  1. I’m sure my TBR list rivals the libraries of some small towns! There’s a bit of everything on it – nonfiction, fiction, biographies, memoirs, romance, mystery, humor, cooking, DIY. Now all I need is the time to read! LOL!

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  3. TBR: The third Elena Ferrante novel, “If I Fall, If I Die,” by Michael Christie and “The Opposite of Everyone,” by Joshilyn Jackson. All sitting on my kitchen counter, waiting to be opened …

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      1. The Ferrante novel is the third of four books about a friendship that goes from childhood well into adulthood. “If I Fall …” is about the child of an agoraphobic who goes outside for the first time in his life. “The Opposite …” is about a divorce attorney and her relationship with her estranged mother.
        I’m currently reading “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” about a war reporter from the Chicago Tribune .

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  4. Sheridan Johnson

    this is so me right now!! I am going through a dry spell with my books, I just need to reach in and pick another good one out and devour it!! Life has been so busy lately

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  5. My reading time has dwindled with so much going on around me, but I get to read a page or two each night before sleeping.
    Not sure that I remembered to let you know, so just in case I forgot, let me also use this opportunity to extend an invitation to a bloggers brunch party taking place on my blog on this weekend Sat-Sunday. The post is titled it’s a brunch party. I believe that it will be fun

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  6. I was exactly like that as a kid- nose always in a book. Life just got in the way. Besides, as a blogger, I’ve fallen into the habits of reading blogs way more than books. I’ve been trying to get back to my first love.

    I re-read Chimamanda Adichie‘s We Should All Be Feminists last night, and it was so good. Next up: Backwards in High Heels; The Impossible Art of Being Female by Tania Kindersley and Sarah Vine. Also planning to re-read some lovely books on grammar, punctuation and cats by Lynne Truss.

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  9. This is one good piece! I never lost my passion for reading. Well, on my TBR list I have James Patterson books “Kiss the girls, First to die and Four blind mice”. You’ve got such a lovely blog here.

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  11. I think I read too much! 🙂 I need to write more. I would sometimes reread books, but only some books. If the book was boring, I’m not reading that again. If I really love a book I would read it to dissect it. Find out what I loved about it, and try to use it in my work. Mostly thought I just read for entertainment.

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  12. You know I’m not an avid reader myself. I never have been. I always preferred to look at visuals like movies and cartoons. But I’ve always had a passion for writing. Call me a lazy researcher. It’s true! But, don’t feel bad. As long as you keep trying to get better, good things will happen. 🙂

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  16. I totally empathize with this post. Even I became so busy in studies, career, home, children – it was as if I lost touch with not only books but myself as well. And then after about 2 decades or so I didnt know what i wanted to or liked to read! It’s been a slow journey but I am slowly getting back to reading 🙂

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  18. BarnTeacher

    I loved this! I was just like you in devouring books when I was younger. I’ve been a teacher for a few years and I spend so much time finding material for my students that I have let my own literary longings take the backburner. I’ve also written a novel and want to again, but who has time? I had to share this tidbit with you as I knew you could relate to it: my eldest daughter got me two books for Christmas (really good ones) and I almost sighed when I opened them, knowing they will accumulate dust before vacation and longing for that young girl that would have had those puppies completed in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. Best regards!

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    1. Thanks for responding. I’m glad that you could relate to my post. Lack of time is always a factor, isn’t it? I realized that I have to make the time and so that’s what I’m doing..a minimum of 5 pages a day turns into much more. Why not give 5 pages a try and see what happens? 🙂

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  19. Things happened and there was the time when the tight schedule and being occupied with other activities dwindled my reading-interest…. however, after watching a number of literary channels in YouTube, I started to regain my interest! As for my TBR, it would be a number of classics, including Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” 🙂

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