Make Reading Your Constant Diet

“That box is probably too heavy for you.” She put a hand on my arm. “Let me get someone to help you lift it.”

She motioned a teen boy over. “Mike, can you help Peter lift this box?”

“Sure!” The teen boy bent down and picked up the box. “Where do you want it?”

Oh goodness. What had been a trial for me to lift, the man-child hefted easily. “Over there.”

My doctor had long been on my case to lift weights, and the incident was enough for me to hire a personal trainer to help me gain strength. I was excited and told the trainer I could spend two or three hours a day training.

“No. One hour is sufficient to meet your potential,” he said, flexing in the gym. “What you need to focus on,” he added as he shifted his stance to show his rippling muscles, “is diet. A protein diet, all day, every day, will maximize the hour of intense activity.” He smiled, and a glimmer flashed from his smile.

He was right. I changed my diet and worked out every day, and after a few months, I’m lifting in the triple digits.

The relationship between reading and writing is similar. Here are a few reasons why reading is the nutrition, and writing is the workout.

• By feeding your mind with books, you keep your mind focused on various sentence structures and narrative styles.
• You can keep up with the latest fads in the publishing world. What writing is being read?
• As a reader, what do you find effective? What did the author do well, and how can you incorporate it in your work to keep your writing fresh and lively?
• Don’t like the book? What not to do is as important as what works.
• If you find something you like, you may be inspired to rise to their level. Humility to admit when you’re the student is the first step to learning to be your best.
• When we sit down to write, sometimes we don’t know how to approach a scene. How would Steinbeck or Hemingway or Tolkien approach the scene? By reading, you have a toolkit from which to draw inspiration.

Similar to exercise, the best writing gains come from good nutrition. Make reading your constant diet, and you’ll find that many issues plaguing your work will be solved. And maybe, someday, you’ll be able to flex your literary muscles in Barnes and Noble and have a gleam in your smile.

Not all opinions expressed are those of all ICW Members. Photo Credit: Daniel Nebreda