[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

My wife knows that when I get into a book, that's all I'll be doing with my free time until it's done. Then, instead of savoring it and rationing a little bit of reading everyday, I plow through it until I'm done. After that I feel shame for being a book glutton. So I read it again. SOunds like an addiction to me.

[drinksinbars]

yeah i do that, sometimes i force myself to do aother things and bring the book with me, then at the first oppurtunity i skim read:(

it makes motivating myself to writing very difficult!

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

What's always fun is when you're huddled over a book at 5 in the morning, unable to stop reading even though you have to get up for work in less than 2 hours. I'm like a crackhead sometimes. (Apologies to any real crackheads on the forums.)

[Dr Trouble]

Saint Chains;117317 said:

Well, that's the thing. If you want to write, you have to read. 'Tis a must. The trick is finding the balance.

For some it can be as easy as writing for two hours, and then reading for two hours. Or only reading a certain number of pages per day, and using the rest of your time to write.

If you have a job with steady hours, try drawing up a scedule, set yourself time to write, and time to read, and time to spend with loved ones etc.

For myself, my work is all over the place, so I read and write whenever I can, but I try to do plenty of both every day.

Indeed. I do the same thing.

It dosn't een have to be 2 hours. if you write for half an hour, at least you did something.

But seriously, if you can't find time to write because you are to busy reading, you probably don't want to write as much as you think.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

It's frustrating. I have a friend who is dead set on getting a fantasy novel published, but he hasn't read anything. It affects his writing, not in a good way. If for no other reason, a fantasy writer needs to be well read in fantasy so they have an idea of what not to do.

[Dagger]

I have forced myself to only read after 10:30 at night, which sometimes means I don't read anything at all. Or it means, like when I hit the last 100 pages of Bonehunters, I was up until 1:00 am with an alarm that goes off at 5:45. And I cut my TV watching to the bare minimum. Now if I can only stay off the @#%$ internet while I am supposed to be writing.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

sparky;117725 said:

Can't you just basically say, 'Read Tolkien. Then, avoid anything that sounds like what you just read.'? I'm only half kidding, really...

Mike

He hasn't, and won't, read tolkien. He saw the movies, said that's good enough, and I have caught him engaged in discussions about the pros and cons of tolkien's writing, based on his knowledge of the movies. :eek:

[Dagger]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;117758 said:

He hasn't, and won't, read tolkien. He saw the movies, said that's good enough, and I have caught him engaged in discussions about the pros and cons of tolkien's writing, based on his knowledge of the movies. :eek:

The said thing is, if a tool like Christopher Paolini can sell millions creating Tolkien-lite, your idiot friend might be able to as well. There's always suckers for bad, derivative fantasy. I think there's a vast audience that wants the same old cliches, and predictable stories. And then of course, there's those who read Goodkind. I can't figure that bunch out at all.

[Malarion]

I consider myself a writer and half the time I cannot be bothered writing. Its a drag, sometimes, but often I cannot find enough time for it. Its sheer pleasure.
Reading can be the same. They aren't that different. A good reader can also be a good writer. Similar diciplines, despite what people might tell you.

[jscottnelson]

One definately must do both. I don't think you can be a good writer without reading . . . a lot.

For me, I use my most creative times (early morning) for writing. Times when my mind is fresh and active. I use the evening (when I'm tired from the day) for reading -- relaxing, enjoying the flow that other writers have created, enjoying fresh views and voices. It is definately my "fun", and much-needed.

However, that said, if you want to be a writer you DO need to write sometime! If you never actually write, you're a reader. There's nothing wrong with that! So don't consider it "addiction", consider it enjoyment and don't feel guilty about it!

[MrXIII]

Writing is a nasty horrible addiction that consumes your life, the batteries in your keyboard and anything remotely paper like that you can scribble on (or scratch if the pen has no ink). I don't write everyday but when the craving kicks in I apparently become quite scary to be around heh as I will yell out half of an idea or start thrusting illegible note pads at people and demanding feedback.

[Lostara Yil]

MrXIII;164796 said:

Writing is a nasty horrible addiction that consumes your life, the batteries in your keyboard and anything remotely paper like that you can scribble on (or scratch if the pen has no ink). I don't write everyday but when the craving kicks in I apparently become quite scary to be around heh as I will yell out half of an idea or start thrusting illegible note pads at people and demanding feedback.

That sounds like me half the time... except I'll be working on it so long and so intently that people will ask to see it, and then when I give it to them, they don't understand... probably because it's still in the "sketch" phase. Like the one I'm working on now... I'll post that later when I get my pages back I forgot at my future mother-in-law's house...

My problem is that with college, I've got so much other work and reading I DON'T want to do but it's for school, so when I get the time to read my favorite novel or write something, it's either cutting into my schoolwork or I'm up till 1 or 2 every morning. I tend to sleep 9 hours anyways, so this isn't a good thing for me when I have classes/work at 8 or 9 in the morning...
I've also practically had to give up drawing altogether because of college... I either have no time or all my creativity has collapsed from boredom or busyness. It's super frustrating.... and people wonder why college students are so crazy.
But that's for another thread.

[Chiblade]

I have the same problem. What I do is I borrow the book, that way if I don't like it I don't feel like I have to read it. Then I read a little every day, and if its good enough, I just blow a weekend. If its okay, I wait till the finale and then finish all at once, even if I have to stay up till seven the next morning (that did happen to me once, the book was A Storm Of Swords).