Author Confessions #1

And how long would it take you to read your TBR pile?

A while back I saw an author post on Instagram saying that she was loving writing her book even more than she liked reading, and I was like, WHAT THE?!

As much as I enjoy writing (most of the time), if I had to choose between never writing again or never reading (please don’t anyone ever make me choose), I’d choose reading. Some authors may choose writing stating they could write stories for themselves so get the best of both words, but while when I am writing, I’m writing for my own enjoyment and entertainment and trying NOT to think about the reader, it’s not the same as reading a book I haven’t written.

Writing is HARD and it can be painful. I’m the one who has to work out what happens next and whether or not there’s enough tension or all the subplots are working together. It’s much easier to read than it is to produce. I love nothing more than being able to escape between the pages of a world someone ELSE has created, to get to know their unique characters and go on an adventure with them.

I was a reader before I became a writer - although I had a hiatus from reading in high school, as a kid I loved escaping into fictional worlds, created by faves like Enid Blyton, C.S. Lewis and Ann M Martin - and I’m sure I’ll be a reader till my last breath, although I may stop writing before then (who knows? I recently heard BJ Daniels say she hoped to die typing stories at her computer and that seems like a pretty good way to go). Reading and writing go hand in hand for me, but I could NOT be a writer if I wasn’t a reader.

People often ask me at events if I read while I’m writing. The short answer is yes, I write 1-2 BIG books a year, which means I’m pretty much ALWAYS writing, so if I didn’t read while I was writing, I would hardly read at all. In actual fact I read 80-100 books a year - you can follow my reading journey on Goodreads (where I record but not rate or review books).

The long answer is YES because reading is VITAL to writing (in fact, I would probably say it’s part of my job - the part I like the most, clearly). If I didn’t read as much as I do, I don’t think I could write as much as I do either. Reader other authors’ work inspires me and teaches me about writing craft and also brings me JOY, reminding me WHY I do this and what I want to bring to my own readers. The more I read, the more ideas I get.

Many authors say they don’t read while drafting (and sometimes even editing) as they don’t want to accidentally take on the voice or ideas in the novels they are consuming. Aspiring authors often worry about this. Maybe because I spent FIFTEEN years finding my voice with multiple writing projects before I finally got published, I never worry about this and honestly, I think it’s something people worry TOO much about. If you’re a prolific reader, you’ll have so many characters, plots and voices in your head that you’ll never emulate just one. I do know established authors who also don’t read in the genre while they are writing, but most of them DO read other genres or even non-fiction.

Reading is the lifeblood of writers and writing!

The only downside of reading is that sometimes I can’t switch off my writer brain, which means I’m analysing the characters, the plot, the execution etc as I devour. Sometimes I read a book SO good that I’m extremely jealous of the writer’s talent but it also motivates and drives me to become a better writer myself.

As an author, I also believe it’s very important to be well-read and know what is going on in the publishing world - especially in the genre/s you are writing in but really across the board. If a book is taking the world by storm, I READ it, because I want to know why and I want to be able to have conversations with readers about why they love it.

In fact, I read MULTIPLE books at once because my TBR pile is SO big I will never get through it (and yet I still keep adding to it on an almost daily basis). I buy way more books than I can EVER possibly read and the thing that makes me sad about dying (aside from leaving behind loved ones) is that there are so many books I’ll never get to read! For this reason, I’d love to take a YEAR off writing and just READ. Not just because my TBR pile is ridiculous (and it might help me catch up), but also because I think it would greatly improve my own writing.

So, this my confession is that YES, I love reading more than I like writing (although I do LOVE having written). Then again, writing is my job and no one likes their job ALL the time. If I got paid for reading, maybe I’d get sick of that too…

Now for a bit of fun:

Books on my TBR pile: 589 (print, I dare not add the ones on my Kindle)
Amount of books I read per year: 80-100
How many years it would take me to get through my current TRB pile if I didn’t buy any more books: 598 divided by 80 (I went with the lesser amount) = 7 years and about 4 months.

Leave me a message in the comments letting me know how long it would take you to conquer your TBR pile?!