Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Writer Wednesday: Reading, Reading, and More Reading


This month, my editing plate has been full. I won't complain because my clients are seriously talented authors and I love working with them. I get to spend my days reading books I would have otherwise bought and read anyway. It's great.

The funny thing is that after reading all day, I want to wind down at night and I choose to... Did you guess read? If you did, you're right. The difference is that when I'm reading for fun (even though I find editing fun too!) I don't have to have the mental focus I do when I edit. I can have the TV on in the background. My daughter can be reading aloud. (She loves to do that!) My husband can be talking on the phone. None of that bothers me. But when I edit, I often use headphones because I want to drown out the world and focus solely on those words in front of me.

I equate reading for fun to watching a movie you seen over and over again, that you can put on at any point in the movie and not be lost. Even if I never read the book before, I can still immerse myself in it without tuning out the rest of the world. But edits are so much different. They demand my full attention.

So while I spend my days reading, they're different kinds of reading. One is work, albeit fun! The other is relaxing.

*If you have a question you'd like me to answer from the other side of the editor's desk, feel free to leave it in the comments and I'll schedule it for a future post.

13 comments:

  1. I need a certain level of quiet as well when I write. Since I've decided to focus on reviewing books more on my blog, reading has taken an extra urgency to me. But I love writing and reading as both work and hobbies so I just have to find a balance.

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    1. Finding a balance was difficult for me. It really does help you stay sane, though.

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  2. A lot of what I do during the day is reading, but academic, so I read fiction in the evening to unwind.

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    1. Good plan, and good balance of fiction and nonfiction.

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  3. I totally understand reading for fun versus reading for work. Lately, though, I've been watching some amazing TV series for fun instead: "Good Girls Revolt" and "Z: The Beginning of Everything" about Zelda Fitzgerald. I keep telling myself they are about literary or journalism topics, so it's almost as good as reading.

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  4. Yes, exactly! Like watching The Breakfast Club or Pretty in Pink. :)

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  5. I usually read books I'm reviewing in the afternoon, and I read books I've bought at night. They help me relax, unless it's Stephen King or Dean Koontz, of course. :)

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  6. I adore reading, Kelly. Tut unlike you I'm a slow reader. This means that I take longer to get through a novel. I've also never been able to read a few stories at once. You at blessed, and clearly in the right field.

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  7. It reminds me of a show on professional chefs, showing what goes on behind the scenes in the kitchen. What do they do at the end of the day? They cook, and they comment on each other's cooking as they eat.

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