{ on Pinterest via Marta Dansie }
The “Keep Calm” poster movement has been around for a while, but this is the first one that has really caught my attention. I’ve just finished Stephen King’s On Writing and in it he says that one of the most important things a writer must do to be successful is read. A lot. In fact, he says that if you’re not willing to spend hours every day reading (as well as writing) then perhaps you’re not serious about being a writer. King lists all sorts of reasons why reading is so crucial and I agree with all of them. Whoo-hoo!
So in addition to the bedtime book (The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan) and Harry Potter and the book club book (Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson), I’m reading Rosamunde Pilcher. Have you read anything by her? She’s best known for The Shell Seekers, which came out in the 1980s and was made into a movie starring Angela Lansbury. Pilcher was 60 when The Shell Seekers was published. Before that, she made a small living writing short stories for women’s magazines. My favorite book by Pilcher is September. Reading September is like curling up in a warm blanket with a mug of hot cocoa in front of a cozy fire with a dog curled up at your feet.
I love when people share book ideas. We were at a party over the weekend and my friend Karey recommended The Help by Kathryn Stockett. My friend Christina is immersed in Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants. I’m itching to read Bossy Pants by Tina Fey. It’s hard to keep up with all of the great books out there but it’s sure fun to try, isn’t it?
I also remember that advice by Stephen King and I totally agree that writers must also be readers. Writers who are not readers tend to repeat cliches (not knowing they are cliches because they haven’t read enough other books!) Now that baby Henry is here and I am confined to a rocking chair nursing for hours on end, reading books is the perfect pastime. I remember doing that when Ruby was small as well. It sometimes just takes something like being “trapped” by a newborn (wonderful way to be trapped) to *make* us slow down enough to read and then we remember how much we enjoy it. Thanks for the post!
I must read that Stephen King book. I read a lot more than I used to do these days, now that I’ve started writing again, so it looks like I’m doing something right!
I love reading about how a writer spends his or her day. Unlike with most jobs, there isn’t a job description for being a writer, so when one of the most successful writers in the world says his day includes hours of reading, it’s like someone has handed you a present.