photo by Jasoon
The statistics on reading in the United States are enough to make me slash my wrists. While the latest survey of reading habits by the National Endowment for the Arts found that fiction reading is up (half of Americans reported reading novels, short stories, poems or plays in 2008), 54.3 percent of us admit to not reading any book not required for work or school.
The average American claims to read four books annually. I read two to four books a week, depending on what’s going on in my life. My reading runs the gamut—from business and current events to literary fiction and guilty pleasures like science fiction and horror (my dream read would be literary zombie fiction
The line that connects all my varied reading is that I’m attracted to really good writers. Reading great writing helps me with my own writing. It inspires me, expands my vocabulary, exercises my brain and challenges me to be a better writer.
My point isn’t that my reading makes me special. It’s that my reading improves my writing. Reading and writing are inextricably linked. If you’re not reading on a regular basis, crack a book. And another. And another.
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