Some people text at stoplights....I read books. It's nothing dangerous. I just read a sentence or two, honest. But often it is difficult for me to read books while I am in the process of drafting a novel. You may be able to commiserate if you have a similar experience. Let me tell you why I have trouble reading and writing simultaneously.
1) If I am working on a novel, I want to spend any free time I have writing. Not reading.
2) Books distract me from my own story. I think about some author's characters and happenings rather than my own.
3) I even get discouraged when I'm reading a polished novel and compare it to my UNpolished (and unpublished) novel.
For two whole years, writing was a struggle for me. That period traces back to some extremely difficult times I went through in my personal life. I should have spent the time reading, but I kept hoping that writing would come back together for me. Then I realized I needed books to remind me why I love writing so much. Sure, I did read some, and it still didn't help get out of my writer's block. And I'm not saying my writer's block of sorts would've gone away even if I'd immersed myself in books. But those portable worlds can always be a starting place. The gas station for my creativity. (Okay, sorry for the really bad analogy.)
How do you balance reading and writing? How does reading help and/or hinder you?
