No Time to Read? You’re Not Alone!

Reading time is a precious commodity. In this crazy world of ours, it often seems that those who want to read don’t have the time to do it and those who do have the time don’t choose to do it. The grass may seem greener on the other side of the fence, for instance, if you’re an individual who would kill to spend an hour a day reading but you work over 40 hours a week and struggle to balance the other responsibilities of life, or, you’ve got an easier workload but you spent you’re school years dreading a reading assignment because you hated the selections and later, never picked up a book again. I fall into the former category, which, though entirely understandable, in my humble opinion, is often not considered to be a good enough excuse for a well-intentioned writer.

I’ve heard numerous sources say that if a writer can’t make the time to read in addition to their writing and other responsibilities, he / she is not serious about being a writer. My first reaction to hearing this is one of resentment. Writers work very hard at what they do, many writing in addition to working another job or two, and managing their own marketing and other aspects of their business. They’ve read hundreds of books in their genre over the years and while they may not be reading a new book in any one moment, they’ve read enough of them, recently and otherwise, to be well-versed in what’s going on with their genre today. Though, perhaps the statement isn’t actually geared toward these writers. Never having been the one to say these words, I can’t say with absolute certainty exactly who they’re geared toward.

Two times in my life stand out as having been the best for reading – one during which I was working a full time job apart from writing, one when I was writing full time. I learned, during the latter, that when the opportunity presents itself, I find it positively delightful to read three different stories at a time, always romance but preferably in different subgenres. When the subgenres are different, the stories feel different to me and if I’m not enjoying one of them for some particular reason, I have two other existing opportunities to get immersed in something I love. I’ve read hundreds of books this way and, seeing how others are doing things both inside and out of my subgenre has helped to improve my own writing, no question.

As I prepare to become a mother for the first time, I wonder how much time I’ll have for reading, well, reading “adult” books that is. In my mind, there probably isn’t going to be much time left in the day for myself at all and I’ve been working to finish reading and reviewing everything I’ve currently got open, anticipating that it could be some time before I’ll get to continue. I’m staying optimistic. But, I’m also trying to be realistic at the same time.

Honing your skills as a writer is a life-long journey and things change often in our small corner of the universe. We all have times in our life that are busier (I’m quickly approaching one of those!) and others that are more carefree. But doing what we love should never feel like an obligation to take the weight of the world on our shoulders. We do what we can when we can and when we simply can’t, sometimes the best thing to do is let go and give ourselves a pass. Writers may be expected to be superheroes, but at the end of the day, we’re all just human. Don’t ever let criticism and ridiculous expectations get you down. And, when you do have the time, pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read and enjoy!