Writers Need to be Readers

"Read a thousand books and your words will flow like a river."- Virginia Woolf.

I admit, since I became a writer, I write more than I read these days.

How terrible is that? I have all these ideas in my head to get down onto paper that it is taking up all the time I have to read. It's not that I ever lost the love for reading at all, I just happen to love writing so much.

How writing changed me.

I recently posted a question on Twitter asking people if they read as much as they wrote, and I came across some interesting answers.

One of the most common answers was that since becoming a writer, they read books differently. Now this, I found very interesting because it rang true for me as well. Since becoming a writer, I truly feel I expect different things as a reader now. What those things are, per se, I can't quite put my finger on.

I still love picking up books and becoming lost in the story, but perhaps I look for more unique stories to read now. Maybe I look for a story that can truly place me in the character's shoes.

Unexpected change

When I started my journey as a writer, I never expected that it would change my perspective as a reader.

The only conclusion I can come to is that by trying to engage the reader as a writer, I now rose my own expectations as a reader. To often look for that different voice, that different or intriguing story.

But, after all this realization, I have found that I will never stop reading, for it will always make me a better writer.