The Well-Read Writer Becomes an Author
What tools are vital for an author? Mine are a laptop, headphones, caffeine, a canvas grey jacket with a white T-shirt, faded jeans, Olukai Hawaiian shoes, and two-day stubble I’ll shave soon. I can’t write without them.
However, no tool is more essential than my writer’s library.
Every great writer has curated a personal library. Their library is so valuable that when they die, people take down the titles and publish the list so we can read what the author studied.
So, as a famous writer, you must collect books and be the curator of your library. Need better justification?
Ten Reasons Why You Should Have An Extensive Home Library
1 —As you read, you can wrestle with the ideas in the text, write your thoughts in the margins, and quickly flip pages back and forth.
2 —When finished, the covers remind you of the moments you shared with the story or information.
3 —The thoughts of dead humans are valuable, at your fingertips, and the more minds on a subject, the better.
4 —Your recall of what you read is better when you have a physical copy of the book, even better if you wrote in the book.
5 —A publisher can send an update and change words in a digital copy. Not so with your paper copies.
6 —A well-read writer is usually a published author.
7 —Loan a physical copy of the text, and the borrower makes notes in the margins and creates an ongoing dialogue about the material. Giving away a copy of a book that meant something to you, a physical copy, is a deeply profound way to deepen a friendship. You must have many copies of your favorite books.
8 —Those in your household and those who visit will be inspired to read.
9 —You’re going to hoard something. Hoard books.
10 —A bookcase that opens to a secret library is essential for every writer. Make it happen.
Beliefs represented by individual authors are not necessarily shared by all members of ICW.
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