It’s important to take time to read. I say this not as a general statement for all. I say this specifically to the writer, to someone who keeps a journal, writes novels, constructs poetry. I believe it’s important for everyone to read, but here, today, now, let me focus on the importance for the writer.
I had a conversation with someone yesterday. She is a reader but not a writer. And our conclusion was that no one reads anymore. Sure we all read billboards, advertisements, the occasional story from a magazine but we don’t read novels. We don’t read anything of length. I thought about our conversation and realized how important it was for me, as a writer, to read. I compare it to socialization, to a large party, where I’m listening (in this case, reading) to the peers around me. I comprehend and I learn how to speak, to write. It effectively aids in the development of my own, unique, voice.
Some will argue that their time is limited. Who has the time to read anymore? Here is where I’m reminded of television, where I want to argue.
The average American watches 145 hours of television a month or 6 full days of continual television a month. That’s 72 days a year (more than two months) where one is sitting in front of a television. Why not take an hour from this, each day, and read a novel?
In the distant past (the ancient past), entertainment was dance, singing, the oral story. Civilization produced the actor and his stage, soon it was the published word. Then for hundreds of years it was the book that fertilized the imagination, holding a prominent spot in the hierarchy of the imagination. In more recent times, radio came then television; the latter of which has dominated our homes for almost a hundred years.
Tell me, do today’s television programs spark the imagination? Do they create new ideas in your mind?
I’ll be the first to admit that, on rare occasion, they do spark something new in my imagination. Heck, I watch plenty of television. But I’ve learned to make the time to read because if I do not read that spark plug inside the engine of my imagination doesn’t fire as much. It doesn’t ignite the mind. Reading is very important, but is it a dying pastime?
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