Well, as a part-time writer, it is difficult to find time for either, so I try to get in some time or both reading and writing when I can.
With a J.O.B, trying to find time for either is tough enough, but I do try. I write after 5:00 and on the weekends. My job allows me to, from time to time, work from home. But when I do, I usually work through lunch because I am not distracted by office going on's and I can get a lot done. Or sometimes the client needs me at lunch time so I work through lunch if they need me. When I do work from home, I switch laptops at 5pm and work on my craft from 5:00 until light's out.
I am dedicated to my work from 8-5, sometimes later than 5.
I am dedicated to my wife and home life most any other time.
I am dedicated to worship on Sunday morning, and sometimes evening as well.
So when do I have time to read?
I make the time.
With Kindle apps available on any electronic deice, I can carry a full library with me anywhere I go. So, I can't make any excuses for not being able to take any reading material with me. It is there, if I just use it. So the question is Time?
Electronic books are only a few dollars, and some are even free. Also, with a Pay-pall account being free, all I need is some sort of banking account with available funds. So I can't make any excuses for not being able to afford any books. This is my business, if you will, so I can invest in some books to read. They are out there if you will just go get them.
But the question is when how to find the time to rad with such a full life?
When I go into the office to work, if I have the time to take an hour or so for lunch, and IF there are no meetings scheduled and IF the boss hasn't asked me to go to the local pub for a burger, I open the Kindle app on my phone and I read at my desk.
Or, if I have an idea on my book, I open Google Docs on my phone and make a few notes, and then read some more. If I am not reading some sort of fiction, I am reading something to help me with my writing craft. Something on marketing, or other business aspect to my writing career. I find the time to read when and where I can find it. I make the time.
Because I live in Atlanta, GA, and the morning traffic is very thick, I find myself stuck on the highway parking lot quite often. Now, pay attention here...
I am not asking you, suggestion you, or even telling you, to do this. I am simply telling you HOW I FIND TIME TO WRITE.... this is not something I would ever say is a safe thing to do or even legal, so if you do this, you do so at your own risk and I take no responsibility in your doing so.
DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK.
I read in traffic.
I know I know, now hush and let me clarify... It is a parking lot out there and I am stopped a lot. I open my phone and bring up a book and read... ONLY WHEN I AM DOING ZERO ( 0 ) miles an hour. I am stopped. I am not making any forward movement at all. While I am stopped at a light for those three minutes, I read. While I am in a jam and we are not moving, I read a few pages. Again, I only read when I am not moving. Once traffic starts moving again, I put the phone down and I pay attention to the road.
Another time I read, is at night after my wife falls asleep. She is asleep before I am (I am a night owl) so, again with the kindle app, on my i-Pad mini this time, I open the book I was reading while in traffic and I pick up where I left off. Sometimes it helps me to wind down and go to sleep and sometimes it has the opposite affect. It keeps me up longer than I wanted. But I read when I can.
I read on the weekends. My wife is an artist so on the weekends, after we do some yard work, usually only a couple of hours, we spend the rest of the day together up in her art room where she will work on creating with a brush on canvas, and I work on my laptop. I either write, research a subject, or... yup, you guessed it, I read.
Bottom line is, Stephen King is right, writers, need to be readers as well. And, Mr. King as not the only one to say this. To become a masters of our craft, we need to study, and that means reading.
Read all you can. Grab a book at the grocery store, or download a book onto your device, or what ever your favorite medium is, and read when you can.
Grab a book and invest in yourself.
Invest in your craft.
Invest in your book you are working on and read something. When you are not reading, write. When you are not writing, Read.
- See you on the shelf
