Writer's/Reader's Manifesto

[jaebility]

Found this great post when wandering around LJ this morning: To Develop Your Writer's Intuition, You Must First Read Like a Maniac by Justine Musk.

"Reading is living. It is a way of touching minds with some of the most remarkable minds that exist or ever did exist. Reading takes you deeper into the nature of reality, helps you penetrate the human condition itself. It enlarges your consciousness. It provides you with experiences you never could have had in any other way (or just haven’t had yet). And when you put the book down, everything you take away from it helps you live your life with added depth and richness. Fiction may not provide you with the same kind of information as non-fiction, but information is not always knowledge, and knowledge is not always wisdom. Fiction – the best fiction – is wise, and makes you just a little bit wiser, and you can take that wisdom and apply it across all the different parts of your life."

This is a great essay about what a person needs to be a writer - Namely books. I agree with Musk and I can relate to her as a compulsive, obsessive reader. Between The Boy and me, we've filled three bookcases in our apartment, filled them so that books are stacked in rows of twos or piled up. There are books on our desks, on the kitchen table, on our bureaus, and I've got a tower of books next to my side of the bed. Books! Love 'em!

"Reading is the inhale, writing is the exhale."

WOW. YES. YES THAT'S AN AWESOME WAY OF PUTTING IT.

Comments

[baggyeyes]

Yeah - but don't limit yourself to fiction. There are a ton of excellent non-fiction works out there you can draw in as well.

[moschus.livejournal.com]

So glad you liked the post. Thank you for the mention. :)