R-E-A-D

The most essential component of any writers experience is reading. This is the way that authors learn to write, conceptualize ideas, and form those ideas on paper. Most best- selling authors are avid readers. They have their favorite authors and name them quite often. They attend writer’s retreats, participate in writing groups, and exchange books with one another. At the core of great writing, is the pleasure or indulgence of reading a great works. There are some writers that go to school to learn to write and/or to learn to teach writing. Others are self-taught through library programs, writing workshops, and self-help books. The majority of the writers that are self-taught can name at least fifty books that they have read several times. Although they are writers they haven’t quite reached the level of their favorite writers and work a lifetime to achieve a fraction of this greatness.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “There is creating reading as well as creating writing.”

Many authors hold that truth to self-evident regardless of the genres they read and write. I encourage those that want to be really great writers to read, often.

As always, here are some reading recommendations until next time:

Classic Read:
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

African American Fiction:
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Contemporary African American Fiction:
Deadly Sexy by Beverly Jenkins

Children’s Book:
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

Young Adult Novel:
I hadn’t meant to tell you this by Jacqueline Woodson

Happy reading!