There is so much to read. I swear to conquer a huge list of classics every summer. My Google Reader has thousands of unread stories from hundreds of blogs and news agencies. The links my friends send me on facebook, gmail, gchat pour in every day. Then there's my friends' blogs, my Kreyol textbook, the Bible, the nonfiction and fiction books I always try to read, trading off between days.
Right now it's A Confederacy of Dunces, Ann Pale Kreyol, Psalms, The Guardian and the back of my shampoo bottle in the shower.
There's always this voice screaming at me that if I want to make writing a career, I better be gorging myself on the best, hoping that one day some style will rub off. I think I need a rest, a little hope that some of the most creative writers weren't the media gluttons we expect our "most informed" citizens to be.
Tonight, I'm only going to read one thing. I'm going to take a break...I'm going to look at my favorite new web site:
Awkward Family Photos
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4 comments:
You are also a Google Reader? We should share, if only for sharing's sake.
Sharpening your awareness of the world around you and making its translation into words as accurate as possible is not dependent on the volume of knowledge you have, but rather on the depth to which you understand and the wisdom put into its utility.
We live in a world that is way too full of accessible information. Don't worry too much about the classics, nobody has read all of them, least of all the great writers themselves. If they had tried, they never would have had time to write their own places into history.
You can only get so much better at piano by watching a great pianist, the vast majority is practice, practice, and more practice, which you're doing. Don't be ashamed of skipping a symphony concert to write your own sonata.
Keep reading Psalms though.
I feel the same way CJ. I feel like I never get to all the books and magazines I want to read. I'm actually reading GQ at this moment, and in the back of my mind I know I still want to read a book by Gay Talese that I just haven't gotten to.
Reading good writing will always make us better writers ourselves. But, if only we had time to get to them all when we wanted too...
ditto what rob said
your real pops
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