Writers: You Need To Fill Up Your Idea Tank With Reading!
It might be time to take a reading retreat!
Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window.- William Faulkner
I am going on a reading retreat.
It’s a family vacation, but I will not write anything next week unless I can’t help put words on the page.
While on vacation, I aim to have fun with my family, relax, and read.
But why am I making a big deal about reading?
I am feeling pretty stretched thin on ideas. Yes, my ideas bucket is quite full, but I need ideas within those ideas to write about.
I need to read new things. While I read regularly, I will stretch my reading horizons by reading different types of books.
It’s important to fill the bucket, which is my brain. You cannot pour water (ideas) from any empty bucket (brain). It’s time for a refill.
How I’m Setting Up My Reading Retreat
I will still get up early, as I always do. Because of this, I can read in the morning.
I have a list of five books I intend on starting/finishing over the next week. (Some of these books I have started and am nearly done with, so the list is five.)
I will read during any downtime we have. My books are on Kindle, so I can take them anywhere via phone or tablet.
And that is it. I am going to read when I can, and I know I will have time to do it. And I’m not going to do any writing while we are away.
Do you think this is something you could do?
Also, while I am out, I will be sharing what I am reading and a little of the fun we are having here on Substack Notes, so be sure to follow along!
My name is J.R. Heimbigner, and I am a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon with 14 self-published books. I have two things I want to share with you:
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Enjoy your reading retreat and family vacation. I try my best to have periods of time like this but it would be so hard for me not to write for a week.
I love this idea. I am now regularly getting into the practice of using the weekends for reading novels for pleasure. It makes you so much more observant as a writer.