posted on January 22, 2014 by J. J. Cook

Your Favorite Thing about Reading

playingwithfireWhat is your favorite thing about reading?

For some people, it’s the ability to escape from where they are to another place they’d rather be. Some people think of reading as growing and learning. Still others just enjoy the pictures that play through their minds as the words flow across the pages.

Whatever type of reader you are, there is a book for you. Just imagine if moviemakers took advantage of all the thousands of books that are written every year. You could watch movies every day, and never see the same one twice.

Instead, movie and TV producers keep making the same stories over and over again. How many re-makes can there be of Sherlock Holmes – especially when there are hundreds of wonderful detectives in books besides him? How many times will Frankenstein and Dracula be re-made when there are so many books that feature new characters and stories like them?

I’m not picking on these stories. I enjoy them. But I sometimes wonder why so many good books are written each year that no one takes advantage of.

It’s difficult to be noticed in the ever-growing, overcrowded field of literature today. There are so many writers creating so many interesting new stories, it’s easy to get lost just perusing a bookstore’s real shelves. On the virtual side, I’ve lost count.

I frequently wonder why there are so many people who want to write. It’s not an easy thing to do. Sometimes it feels as though you’re plagued by it. It’s hard to make any real money at it, and sometimes takes years just to break even. Many writers feel cursed by this need to put words down on paper or on a screen.

Is it because it’s easier than it has ever been before to write? Typewriters and white-out have been replaced by Spellcheck and word processors. Certainly, anyone who has been a writer for more than twenty years can attest to how much easier it is. We have programs to organize your thoughts, and lay out your story for you.

Is that it? Or is there a hunger in people to tell their stories? A need and a drive to grab the stories from your brain and get them out there, regardless of what the personal cost to you.

I write because I’ve always written. Whether I sell it or not doesn’t matter. I seem to write because I breathe. I read for the same reason. I can’t imagine NOT reading.

J J  CookFor those of you out there who are the same, keep telling your stories. Keep writing even when you’re scared or afraid.

And for readers – I’m also one of those – please keep reading. Writers need you.

www.jjcook.net

www.Facebook.com/JoyceandJimLavene

Twitter: @authorjlavene

 

4 thoughts on “Your Favorite Thing about Reading”

  1. theval2000 says:

    one of my favorite things about reading is that I can imagine the characters and places the way I see them 🙂

  2. tiggedy2 says:

    My favorite thing about reading is when the “movie” of the book in playing clearly in my mind. I can see everything that I am reading. And when I read a series, when the new book comes out, I mind instantly takes me back to that place and the people. I also love the new thing I learn from reading. Cozy mysteries have taught me so much about different places, occupations, hobbies and collections!

  3. I am always study seriously of any book without any disturbances.

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