When I was younger, and life was a smidgen less hectic, I used to read a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean, if I had a day to spare, I could easily read three decent sized books without breaking a sweat. That was my favourite type of day. And then I went to university, I got more serious about writing, I started gathering a few extra responsibilities and obligations and boom. Reading sort of just…fizzled away. I didn’t stop exactly, but I certainly didn’t read anywhere near as much as I used to. This year however, I’ve been trying to change that and rebuild my reading habits. There are five very important reasons why I’m doing this.
Reading is Fun
This is, of course, the most important reason for reading more. It is, quite simply, amazing. There is no end to the amount of adventures you can go on, the number of cool people you can hang out with, and the places you can escape to while reading a book. I don’t think there is any feeling quite like that of losing yourself so completely in a book that you stay up way later than you intended to because you just had to know how it ended.
Staying Aware Of What’s Out There
Reading regularly helps keep me at least somewhat aware of what’s going on in the bookish world. I gather a general idea of what books are popular, what writers are big at the moment, which themes or subjects are trending at the moment, and what we really need more books on. Reading is a good (and highly enjoyable) way to keep up with the book world.
Learning By Exposure
It’s surprising how much you can learn about the craft of writing and what makes a good book by just reading. We absorb a lot more than we realise, even when we’re not actively dissecting the text to figure out how it works. Readers have discerning minds. They know what they like, and what they don’t. This sort of knowledge and taste is invaluable as a writer. By the time you sit down to write, you have a much better instinctual understanding of what goes into an awesome book.
Gathering New Ideas
Reading widely and often is a fantastic way to be exposed to stories, people, viewpoints, and experiences outside of our own. As well as as making me more aware of things in real life, these differing stories are fantastic for suggesting new ideas, connections, or events that I could incorporate into my own work. There is nothing like reading someone else’s book to get my mind working on ideas I could use in books of my own.
Discovering New Possibilities
There are all kinds of books out there. There are ones with ten narrators, and ones with none at all. There are some that use page formatting as part of the storytelling process, as in Patrick Ness’s The Knife Of Never Letting Go or Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. There are some written almost as stream of consciousness, and others that are presented piecemeal. There are so many different ways of telling a story, and reading gives me a chance to explore more, and to see what is actually possible in writing.
In short, books are simply amazing in all ways. I am working on re-building my reading habit this year, both so that I can go on more awesome adventures from the comfort of my armchair, and also so that I continue to level up as a writer. But these are just my reasons for building better reading habits. I’d love to hear your experiences. Have you ever fallen out of reading for a while? What helped you rebuild the habit? What are some of the benefits you’ve found from reading widely and often? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
