Writers Read

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

~Eleanor Roosevelt

As a writer, it is essential to read, and I don’t mean every book On Writing that you can get your hands on, because I’m from the old school, you can not ‘learn’ to be a writer. And this is true, if you think you can write just because you want to, you are on the wrong path. Jump off and join a circus, better odds of success there. You can learn the basic elements of writing, but to be a writer, you need to READ and to WRITE! All writers are avid readers. You’d be hard pressed to find a writer who says, “I don’t read books.” 

Are you kidding me? Why does one become a writer to begin with?  It is because you were little once and climbed into a book and chapter after chapter you were swept away into a fantasy land. You then thought things like, “I could do that! Take people to another world of imagination.” And the dream of becoming a writer was born. What were you, a month, two months old when your first book was ever read to you?
 
I didn’t become a writer, I’ve been a writer all my life, and you’ll hear that a lot too in the writing community, “I was born to write!” We began our life being read to, then we began reading all on our own, then we saw something that was like a small spark of fire in the dry timbers of the pages. We knew we could write a story like this or that, and so we started with an essay, then it grew to a short story and maybe poetry, then we were well on our way to driving the train into the writing world.
 
I used to read anything and everything I could. I began diving into books of fiction then moved onto philosophy, then psychology, then I got into reading about the many different religions, physics, quantum physics; I just got wrapped up in those books educating myself for who knows what purpose, then I returned to fiction. All the while growing, I was writing poetry and stories on a typewriter until about ten years ago I got a computer and began joining writing sites and poetry sites, posting my work for all the world to see.
 
Being the most popular will not make you a good writer, popularity and over eagerness will NOT make your writing appear better! My family never supported me then and doesn’t support me now. In my physical realm, it is just me. In my virtual world I have an over abundance of support! How did you become such a good writer, you ask? Well, it was through the encouragement of the many writing communities, a two year writing course, and being wrapped up in words like a blanket to my soul. It was due to the fact that I have read thousands upon thousands of books. To be a writer, one must be a reader first and foremost, then writing comes almost as natural as brushing your teeth in the morning.