Balancing reading and writing

I do most of my reading at night, in bed, when I'm too tired and unfocused to write effectively.*

caw


* "Effectively" is, of course, a subjective opinion of mine, not shared by any agents or editors I've submitted to.

I stopped trying to force an artificial balance. There are days/weeks where I binge read everything I get my hands on, and days/weeks when I'm writing like the wind. And there are days I write a little and read a little. The key is to make sure you have a balance overall - read a lot, write a lot, however that looks to you.

I think it's as much about a curiosity for writing that isn't your own. Maybe you read a paragraph in a blog that you find particularly interesting or maybe it's a chapter in a random book. I still remember looking for a particular book at the library once and accidentally borrowed the wrong one--Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Turned out to be one of the best books I've read.

Another time, different library, I caught a glimpse of a book called The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. I'd never heard of the author Robert Rankin but I liked the title so I read the first chapter and was completely hooked! I think it's about finding those moments in life where you don't plan the experience. Just experience it.

I don't try to balance it, yet I manage to do a healthy amount of both. There are times when I get so focused on my writing I forget to eat. Then there are times the words just aren't coming and it feels nice to relax with a book.

There are also times where it's easier to do one than the other. It's easier to write at work, but easier to read while in transit or lying in bed.

I sympathize, I can't even read much at all anymore because I keep comparing it to what I've written. Instead of just enjoying it it's always "man, I could never write like this!" or "how did this get published? I could do so much better." But it's easier to make time if I tell myself every little bit is fuel for getting better. Try to read the things you know will help you improve, I guess.

I have a certain time and place I read. It's either on my lunch hour at work, or outside in a chair in the yard (when the weather permits, of course.)

I read a lot. I love to read. I find it really effortless to read fiction. With some non-fiction, in particular if I want the content, but find the actual writing a challenge to stay focused on, I'll put that in the toilet. (ha ha. I mean, I always have one book near the crapper, and I'll get at least get started one paragraph at a time. Often the book graduates from the toilet list to the sofa list - that's for stuff I read for the pleasure. I re-read favorite novels, and sometimes interesting non-fiction in bed as my fall-asleep book.) I wish I wrote more, but I have learned that forcing it is really bad for me.

I was struggling to do any reading because of eye strain. After spending all day at the computer, I just did NOT want to stare at a page or ereader. Enter audiobooks, and now I'm blowing through a book or two a week by listening in the evenings.

I find this very difficult. When I'm writing intensively then I find it hard to just enjoy a book. When I read I'm not really reading. I'm looking at the sentence structure, how the plots and subplots are interacting and how the character evolves. That kind of ruins the reading experience for me, so I avoid reading when I'm in a good writing mood.

Don't think of them as separate. I never feel guilty for reading instead of writing. Reading IS writing--the first stage of it.

Okay, maybe if it's been like 2 weeks and it's all read no write, but in general I treat it like eating/exercising in terms of balance.

In the morning before work, I write/edit/critique. On my lunch at work, I read. After work, I finish whatever writing/editing I need to do, and then at bed time, I read. That way, I still get a couple hours of reading in while also getting my writing stuff done. It works well for me.

I find for myself that reading is something I can do almost anywhere for any short or long amount of time - on a train, for five minutes before I start working, on the sofa at my grandparent's house for hours on Christmas Eve - whereas writing is something that takes more dedication and set-up: four hours in Starbucks, laptop to my left, peppermint mocha to my right. headphones in, background noise in session.... So I can read in bits and pieces throughout the day and during any old moods, whereas writing takes a certain amount more focus and energy.

Of course, sometimes all of that goes entirely out of the window.

This is a tough one for me too. When I get focused on writing, I don't read as much as I should. But I love reading so much.

Read on the train, write after work. Works for me. It gives me an hour and a half reading time and three hours writing time.

I like to write in the mornings, as soon as I wake up.

I like to read in the evenings before going to bed.

It works out for me. After a day at work, you can get quiet stressed out or moody. Writing stuff under those mental and emotional conditions doesn't work for me. Reading a book helps me release my stress and relaxes me.

I find that if I'm on a reading binge, I do no writing. If I'm writing more, I don't want to read. I can't seem to balance much. And sometimes, I can't write OR read and end up just watching Netflix, which does nothing for my brain cells. hahah. Oh well.
And I have a very big TBR so this doesn't bode well for me.... hmmm

I can't read at night, but I can write. So I try to balance, and sometimes it works. But like I said above, (and like what's happening to me now,) sometimes it doesn't.

I don't try and balance anything. If I feel like writing, I write - and if I feel like reading, I read.