Put Your Feet Up!

And read a good book, or a bad one, but just read. Either way, you can learn a lot. I've been in somewhat of a writing rut lately. I spent most of the summer running my kids around, and I was so sure that once they were back in school, my creative juices would start flowing again. Well, school started three weeks ago, and I've been able to squeeze very little juice from that creative fruit. It's got me thinking about what is different now. What was I doing differently back when the words flowed so easily? Well, the first thing that came to mind was reading. During the times when I was knee deep in creativity as far as my writing goes, I was also reading a lot. In fact, I was reading for at least an hour a day. Lately, I've only been reading for ten to fifteen minutes, and it's right before I go to bed. Sometimes, I'm so tired that I can hardly keep my eyes open, and I have to reread the same thing the next night. So, I'm making a commitment to start reading more again. And why do I think reading is so important? Well for one thing, it can show me what works and what doesn't. If I'm really drawn into a book, I can reflect back on what drew me in and apply that to my own writing. If I'm bored to tears, I can pay attention to what isn't working for me and avoid doing it in my own writing. I once heard that the six rules to writing were read, read, read, write, write, write. I'm seeing, now, that it is true. What about you? How does reading inspire you? And what books or authors have you been most inspired by?