For this edition of Blogging Insights, Dr. Tanya wants to know if reading is fundamental to being a blogger. She asks:
Do you think that reading is an important prerequisite for writing well? If so, what kind of reading material inspires or affects your writing?
Yes, I do. I can’t imagine being able to write well if you’re not also well read. Back in the day I used to be a voracious reader. I’d typically go through fifty to sixty books a year. I’d read books on the commuter trains I used to take to get to and from work. I’d read books on the many long airplane flights I had to take for my job. And I’d read for in bed about 30 to 60 minutes each night before going to sleep at night
But that was before the internet, before connected computers, before smartphones, before newsfeeds, before 24-hour cable news networks, before streaming services. Now I don’t read more than a half a dozen books a year, if that. Most of my reading these days is done on my iPhone. Specifically my newsfeed and the WordPress reader.
What kind of reading inspires my writing these days? Well, it’s mostly the articles that pop up on my newsfeed, those posts I come across in the WordPress reader, and things I see in my newspaper or in magazines.
So, bottom line, one way or another,
This, That, and the Other 
I moved my Kindle to my computer and phone since I am with them so often it makes the reading a bit easier and I can escape the world of social media by clicking on a Kindle book. Thatb said Youtube is my reading nemesis.
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YouTube can be addicting.
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Yes it can.
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Exactly so.
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I used to read a lot more books than I do now. Every now and then I go on a bit of a reading binge but most of my reading now is blog posts and news articles unless I am researching something for the doll blog.
So yes I do think that reading is fundamental to being a blogger. It’s where I get many of my ideas and inspirations from.
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I agree, reading is fundamental.
And I also agree that ever since wifi and smart phones, the number of books that I read in a year has decreased.
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Amazing!
Thanks for sharing 💫
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Thanks.
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Man that’s amazing that you used to read 50-60 books a year. I have to do this, but I’m not commuting hands free on a train. Did you take any speedreading courses? Any other tips?
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I had two-plus hours a day on commuter trains back then and I spent many hours on flights for my job and alone in hotel rooms. So there was plenty of time to read a lot of books. But all that changed when the internet came along and when we now have our eyes glued to our smartphones all day long. I was not a speed reader by any stretch, but I just enjoyed reading and was really into the escape the novels I read delivered. As to tips, put down your smartphone, unplug from the internet, turn off the TV, and settle into a comfy chair and read a book.
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