The Practice of Reading

These are the books that I am currently reading in earnest in my office space. I also have two books I’m reading in my dining room, and another book I’m reading at night in bed. At any given time, I am reading at least 6 to 7 books.

Reading doesn’t feel like a solitary practice to me. Instead, it’s entering a complex conversation with countless others. Of course, I’m not the first, nor will I be the last, to state that.

I’ve found that I’ve been reading much more lately than writing. I exhausted myself after writing my manuscript, Twilight of the Elders. (Yes, I am still querying agents with the hopes of landing one to sell my project.)

Perhaps after writing close to 90,000 words and pouring so much effort into such a major project, it becomes necessary to step back from writing to reassess the practice itself. I’m not sure. Maybe I’m just fooling myself now that a cat has “got my pen”.

With all that’s going on in the world, there is so much to say, yet every time I sit down to write, I feel tongue-tied, struggling to put down in words what I’m thinking about in terms of all the current events unfolding. So, perhaps it isn’t the project I just wrapped up. My other theory is that I inundate myself with too much information, especially from social media. The words, ideas, and thoughts of other people overwhelm me to such an extent that it creates creative paralysis, rendering me incapable of articulating my own thoughts.

However, reading books calms that frenetic energy, so I’ve disciplined myself recently to read each book above every day, slogging through one chapter at a time. This practice has also inspired me to return to line edits of my manuscript. I’ve even decided to print out my 330-page manuscript to go through the line edits by hand. It will be the third time that I’ve done that.

And, of course, I’ll keep all of you apprised of my progress. In the meantime, I’ll return to my stack of books.