This month, we’re going to talk about reading.  I think it is something writers need to spend time talking about.  So often, we break down the business of writing, of marketing and analytics and logarithms.  But that’s not why most of us got into this whole writing thing in the first place.  We did it for the love of story.  As brought out by one of the writing craft books I’m wanting to talk about at the meeting, human beings are wired to respond to story. (Lisa Cron, Wired for Story)  That’s why folk tales and parables — even songs — make such excellent memory aids.  It’s also why we tend to hang on every word when a comedian or a friend who has “a way with words” tells a story about a mundane event, and why even badly presented drama pulls us in.

Spending time reading, and talking about what excites you about those stories, helps keep you inspired, and reconnects you to the most basic part of writing — the need to communicate your ideas to others.

So what book do you find yourself re-reading multiple times?  What do you discover in the re-reading?  Which author’s prose blows you away and makes you strive to be a better writer?  What are you reading right now?  Is it worth your time?  Would you recommend it to someone else?  What do you read when you need comfort?  What do you read when you want to feel close to nature?  What do you read when you’re in an excellent mood and want to feel joy?  What book makes you feel bitter-sweet?  What book did you literally throw across the room?  What book do you recommend to someone new to your genre?  (I’m not asking you to analyze anything here.  Just think about the things you love.)

It’s hard to keep creating, if you haven’t re-filled the creative well, and sometimes it is easy to feel guilty about reading time, since it doesn’t seem directly related to productivity.  But it is a loss to give up the fun of enjoying the very thing that got you writing in the first place.  So don’t be afraid to get lost in a good book!