I recently read a wonderful article about efforts made to maintain literacy during the Great Depression. For younger readers, it might be hard to imagine the need to preserve the ability to read, especially in today’s information age.
During the Great Depression, however, great heroes in The Pack Horse Library Initiative, traveled to rural locations to help people continue to read. According to the article, “[librarians] rode up into the Kentucky mountains, their saddlebags stuffed with books, doling out reading material to isolated rural people.”
Why do you think these librarians worked so hard to keep reading alive? The answer is simple: reading changes lives.
I have never met an accomplished author who did not continue to read. In fact, in every workshop I have attended, whenever someone asks for writing advice, reading is high on the list.
How does reading help our writing?
Reading is like warming up before a race. Athletes have their workout routines to help them perform their best; likewise, reading gets language moving through our brain and out onto the page.
If you want to improve at anything, you first learn from the masters who came before you. So, if you want to write—read!
Reading gives you the opportunity to see how the experts string words together, bring their characters to life, play out scenes on the page, select the best details, and so much more. Every time you open a book, you have a writing lesson staring right back at you, if you stretch beyond reading for entertainment and read like a writer.
To help you with this goal, I’m offering a special price for my video Reading Like a Writer. For September, I offer this video at $14.95, which allows lifetime access. I may not be on a horse, but I’m still trying to do my part to make sure you are reading, and that your reading improves your writing. Follow the link above and use the coupon code reading to reduce the regular price by five dollars, but don’t wait. The coupon expires at the end of September.
However, I do have to warn you: this video has been known to ruin mindless reading for people. When you read like a writer, you elevate a task we learned in first grade to a skill one becomes passionate about perfecting. I’ve seen writing transform because of this video.
I hope you’ll enjoy this article as much as I did. You never know how precious something is until you can’t readily have it. I encourage you to recognize how reading affects your writing and to take advantage of this special offer. Happy reading!
