Woman Writing a Letter by Pierre Duval-Lecamus
I just finished listening to an interview with Jane Hamilton, author of The Book of Ruth, on Minnesota Public Radio. I admit that I’ve never read any of her books, but the interview with her was very interesting. The main discussion of this interview was how the writing field has changed and how the internet has affected the writing process. She said that she has found that many more want-a-be writers are not readers. That many people think that with instant access to publication (twitter, blogs, self-publishing etc) has made people think that they are “writers.” She compares this experience to some of the classes that she has taught in colleges about the writing process and that it is in the process where the “fun” lies and not necessarily the publication. Hamilton’s observations ring especially true with the recent comments made by Kanye West about his non-reading skills.
To me, the reading and writing process are separate, but the writing process is definitely intertwined with reading; not necessarily reading with writing. That is to say that I can read without every writing anything, but I can’t necessarily picture myself writing without ever having read a book. Writing, therefore, complements my main passion which is reading. To me, the writing process becomes much more about being “self-absorbed” if you do not enjoy literature in general. I have made the mistake during college of telling some people that I like to write and then hearing, “I have some good stories to tell, can you review what I have written?” More often than not, they may have been good stories, but they were not told well and that is where the art of writing lies.
Jane Hamilton also mentioned that when she wrote The Book of Ruth, she wrote it for herself, not for publication and not for fame. That thought really resonated with me. I find anything that I do that is purely for myself (whether that is writing, reading, decorating, gardening etc), I enjoy the process of that activity much more than when I do it out of a sense of obligation or if I do it because I’m trying to get someone else to notice or enjoy it. I think that when I do it for myself there is an authenticity to that act, then when I try to do it for someone else.
This really comes back to one of the hardest lessons I learned when I became a mother. If I do not take care of myself, then I cannot properly care for my daughter. That lesson can be taken to all sorts of relationships. I think other people can also sense the authenticity in it as well and is more readily appreciated than when you are actively looking for that appreciation.
Do you think that in order to write that you need to be a reader? As a reader, do you want to write or simply enjoy reading for reading’s sake?
4 Comments
As a reading specialist, I would agree with you that reading informs writing more so than the reverse; however, there is some merit to the view that writing does inform and enhance reading. Both reading and writing have author-reader relationships. Maybe one way to look at the relationship might be similar to the adage “You never really know how to learn something until you teach it.”
For example,a reader would certainly have better comprehension in reading a report on migrant workers, if that reader had already processed the subject of the report via his or her own writing. In this case, reading does become more comprehensible through writing. This is what we mean by “Writing to Learn.”
I’ve just finished a new blog on this titled Twelve Tips to Teach the Reading-Writing Connection at http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/reading/twelve-tips-to-teach-the-reading-writing-connection/.
Hi Mark,
I think that you bring up a really good point with the reading and writing connection, and what being a “good reader” means. I think because reading can be such an individual activity (unless you share that love with others) that it is not always necessary to be a “good reader” if you are doing so passively. The same concept can be said with movie watching…do you passively sit there throughout the movie or do you think your way to the end and analyze it after?
That being said I do think that there is much to be said for being a “good reader” that will help with analytic skills and also writing skills, but are not completely necessary if it is not being required of you. After college, I have become a much better reader and I do credit that to the hundreds of papers that I had to write; but I don’t remember being a “bad read” before that
I think one can be a writer without being a reader, just probably not a very good writer. Of course, reading has been an integral part of my life all my life. My mom read to me from the time I was born, and I was starting to read on my own by the time I was three. Making up stories grew out of reading. I read for entertainment, for knowledge, and for ideas. I hope that I learn more than just the content of the books, but also about how to tell a story, real or imagined.
That was wonderfully said, Auriette! Books, too, have been an integral part of my life, but for different reasons. My family moved a lot and I never had a lot of close friends growing up, so I through myself into books. They were the one constant in my life and I grew to depend on that. Now that I’m a grown-up, things are a bit different, so book play a different part in my life, but sill a big part.