Reading Like a Writer

I am an avid reader. Reading is like water to me; it is required to stay alive. When I am reading, I travel wherever the book takes me. I have been known to read while eating, bathing and, I’m embarrassed to admit, driving. I just love it!

I am also an aspiring writer. It is a lifelong dream that got new wind blown in it about a year ago. So, I set a goal to read one book a month that will help me become a better writer. I’ve a read some really good books by really great authors. They share their secrets of the trade with people like me who only dream of doing this for a true living.

In that mindset, I picked up Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose. The title sounded perfect for someone like me. Even the author’s name seemed prosaic! I was ready to love it.

Ms. Prose took me by surprise. Rather than applauding readers like me who devour books in hours not days, she chastised my reading habits! Ms. Prose preached that writers should read like anorexic’s eat. Each word should be carefully separated and chewed on until all the flavor has been sucked out. Then those fully chewed words should be connected together in a flavorless string to seek the meaning behind them. I got hungry just reading it!

Perhaps I am alone in this deal but I read for the escape of it. I read to learn of a life or place or story that I do not have access to in my own world. I read to connect to someone else’s narrative and experience. I do not read to pick them apart calorie by calorie! I read like a recent dieter at Thanksgiving dinner. I read to soothe emotions and fill up empty places. I gorge myself until I can hold no more. Then, I explode in a torrent of words myself…usually on the page!

To be fair to Ms. Prose, I haven’t quite finished her book. I’ll keep plugging through but I have to tell you, it’s not a Chinese buffet! In fact, I think it is a Lean Cuisine frozen stir fry…sodium free.