To Read or Not To Read

Just finished reading some comments made by Stephen King on the topic of writing. They were all interesting, but two of them made me stop and think.

The Man!

#1  “The magic is in you. I’m convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing.”

My reply: Fear not, when writing. Easier said than done. Most writers hope most readers will like what they write; that is a great feeling. On the other hand, we all know that you can’t please everyone so we’d better get some fear-be-gone! And, I do like the sound of the magic being in me (or you), but I am still deciding how I want to interpret that sentence. Fun to think about though. How would you interpret that?

#2  Read, read, read. If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.”

My reply: Yes, yes, yes. Now I don’t have to feel guilty when I’m reading instead of writing. **sigh** (OK. I said that but I’m not sure I can do that.)

While fooling around on the Internet, I came across two sites (I’m into two’s today) that you might find interesting.

The first one PewResearchCenter has statistics about Americans over the age of 18 and their reading habits. For example: 76% read at least one book (print, ebook, or audiobook) in 2013. Just click on the name to go to the site.

Such a classic.

Second one Most Popular Book Genres  (click to see more) displays their findings in an easy to read pie chart. It does not include all genres (sub-genres) or non-fiction. The largest slice of the pie was in the Children’s Fiction category. My mind immediately jumped to picture books and things like Frog and Toad, but their list included books like The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Another category, Magic Realism, received 2% of the pie. I’d like to check that out; not sure if I’ve read a book in that category/genre. Here’s one:

I’ve been told this story is definitely for adults.

Thanks for stopping by,

Cricket

Go Arizona Wildcats!