 |
| Sandro Botticelli, “Madonna del Magnifcat” |
Do you ever have that creeping feeling that if you added up all the hours people in the world spend writing books and all the hours people spend reading books that writing time might win?
Are there more people out there writing right now than reading?
What do you think?
(And don’t look at me, I probably spend more time writing than reading these days too.)
You know I'm just joking around right? Hope that's okay.
To answer the question, I suspect there are more readers than writers.
I've seen statistics lately. I definitely think there are more people writing than reading– reading books, that is. People write blogs and tweets and emails. It's the way it is today. But there are people who still like to read books, as I'm discovering with my recently released memoir. And each month I buy as many books as I can and review them for the authors.
It can take years to write a book that can be read in one day. Definitely more time writing than reading.
I'd argue there's more writing than reading given America's illiteracy problem and it's texting addiction.
I'm currently spending a lot more time writing right now than I am reading, unless you count reading and re-reading the piece that I'm writing. O_o
Though I usually do a good amount of both. I usually get through one or two books a week.
I spend WAY more time writing than reading. My TBR pile is daunting. When I do read, however, I love it and am reminded of the importance of telling a great story.
I need a couple of weeks on a Caribbean island to do nothing but sit in the sun and read.(Don't we all!)
Reading is my #1 motivation TO write. When I read something else someone has done well, it makes me want to hop up and write. I've got to say, I read more than I write (which is reflective of my having only finished 2 books in my lifetime), but I hope to correct that.
I'm definitely more of a reader than a writer… When I have nothing to read (a state that makes me feel twitchy and unhappy), I write.
Yes. But I think that it's not only inevitable that there's more time spent writing compared to reading, it's a Good Thing.
When you think about it, who are writers really writing for? Other writers. Consider:
Your average reader will read maybe 4 or 5 novels in a year. Especially now that it's possible to watch TV & movies in non-traditional places (like on buses, beaches, and boardwalks), those numbers may decline further.
Your average writer, on the other hand, may read 4 or 5 novels in a month. Writers are generally more avid readers. Or, put another way, avid readers are much more likely to be (or want to be) writers as well, whether they're writing for fun or profit. Even those avid readers who don't identify themselves as writers often spend hours closeted away writing fanfic or bad poetry. (And that still counts as time spent writing.)
More writing hours spent
= more reading done
= more enjoyment of reading
= more interest in writing
= more writing hours spent
I think there are probably more readers than writers in the world, even though a lot of people are writing these days.
When I write, I have difficulty finding time to read, and there are sooooo many books to read these days, I can't ever keep up with my To Be Read purchases. I felt better after finding out the brilliant Umberto Eco's opinion on reading vs. writing: Umberto Eco: 'I'm a writer not a reader'.
Writing time definitely wins with me. What's even more interesting is how being a writer restricts the kind of books you have time to read. I'd happily frolic through the days reading vintage Luke Short western novels or World War II espionage stories, fiction and non- . . . but my next book is set in 1920s Prohibition California, so, as you can guess, my reading inevitably circles around that subject matter. Not to mention, the essays I post on my page also require my reading to go in a different direction.
I was actually in a writer's group with a woman who hated reading books. She admittedly only wanted to write long enough to establish herself as some Patterson-like success, and then she had every intention of turning around "the writing stuff" to a ghostwriter so she could focus on the PR full-time.
This was five years ago, by the way, and I don't know what happened to this person or if her plan for literary domination panned out. It wouldn't surprise me either way. What she lacked in sense she made up for in ambition, that's for sure.
As for me, I consider it a part of the writing gig, so I make time for it, just like I make time for writing. No exceptions. The reading/writing time ratio is something like 1:3, but considering I can read 70 pages in an hour and can only write 1-2 pages an hour, the ratio of books read to books written is way different. Since December, I've drafted 1 book (still editing) and read 65.
That Botticelli painting shows a true writer. She's obviously run out of ink and is pricking her finger with the quill to write on in her own blood! Or maybe she's an editor and that's how the red pen originated. Oh wait, she's the Madonna. But not that Madonna.
I read more than I write, in terms of wordage but also time. And I'm not that fast a reader. There are probably writers who write faster than I read.
I think it's neck and neck
When I start thinking about the number of writers in the world, I remember that the majority of people I know are readers – readers who buy books.
I think it only seems like writing time wins because we're immersed in the writing world. When I consider the people I know that I have NOT met in connection with publishing, very few of them are writing books. But most of them are readers.
Reading is a heck of a lot easier than writing, so I think it will always win.
I think there's still more readers than writers. I also think there's more want-to-be-writers than actual writers. You know the type: 'I have this great book idea…' I also think many writers don't read enough.
If you're getting down to just reading novels (and not blogs, work-related things, news, and so on), it's probably pretty on par most of the time. Certain weeks are busier and I try to devote more time to getting writing done, while other weeks I can't put a book down and read for hours on end.
I know a lot of people who read, a lot of people who talk about writing, and only a few who actually write. Since I became an author, I have spend a lot more time writing than reading, but it would take a heck of a lot of writing to make up for the reading I did prior to the last few years. Either way, its good to know that we will never run out of things to read.
"Don't look at me," said Nathan. That's so funny.
Writing time wins over here too. Albeit, all of us, are now writing because we love to read. That's why I wish for more time in a day.
I also want success as a writer. Am I bad for admitting that? And because I read, I will write anyway so I think it's okay to want to be more and/or better at it, each day.
I think perhaps there is a deeper question here: If you take literacy out of the equation and say a writer = a storyteller = a talker and a reader = a listener, are more people talking or listening?
Depends on if you count all the students out there in college, reading boring text. My husband, the lawyer, had to read basically non-stop, until graduation released him from a sort of reading-hell. So, to me, there are a lot of readers out there. Yes, authors and wannabe's like me, write a ton, but I still think we are the exception not the rule.
I always felt like there were less writers than readers.
Then I paid attention. 🙂
erica
I probably spend more time reading (novels, blogs, e-mails, articles) than writing. I wish I did more novel reading AND novel writing than I do.
It just looks that way to those of us who are deeply immersed in the writing world. I work the Readers Advisory desk in the public library and I see thousands of people coming through here every day who read constantly and never write a jot.
For most folks, even email consists of hitting the forward button. Tweets are often retweets, facebook updates are links.
Someone mentioned that it takes a year to write a novel, but less than a day to read it. Stop to think, one person writing it – many people reading it.
Relax – the readers will always outnumber the writers.
As an author trying to sell books, I sure hope there are more readers, but it seems to me like everybody on the planet is writing these days. Or maybe that's just where my head is.
Nancy
https://nancylauzon.blogspot.com/
The Chick Dick Blog
Personally, I find it very hard to balance writing, with work (day job & a necessity), having time to relax while incorporating the amount of reading time I would prefer in my day.
When I first stuck my little toe in the writing pond, I found it to be as deep as an ocean; fish all around. Competition for food is fierce. In order to survive, we have to write more than read.
That's a difficult question to answer. There has to be a happy medium between writing time and reading time. As a writer, you can't NOT read. I think, on the days when I procrastinate the most, I read more than I write. But then once I'm on a roll, I can write for a week straight with two minute bathroom breaks and four hours' sleep at the most, and not read a thing. Unless I get stuck with a scene, then I tend to go back and reread the last page I wrote….
Gosh, that's a really hard question to answer.
CONFESSIONS OF A WORD JUNKIE: Who cares: Words are words you have got to love them. Did you ever think about how many times those writers read those word over and over again. Does that count?
I love the Botticelli detail.
Oh, more reading than writing. I don't count Tweeting and Facebooking as real writing.
I still read at least 3 or 4 times as much as I write.
I feel guilty if I'm NOT writing more than I read – but lately I've been on a reading kick, and I love it. It's all those great books that made me want to write in the first place.
As a society, Western society in particular, we are more literate than we have been in the past. People read and write everyday, even if it is just texting or the like. So more writing is inevitable, but whether it outways reading time, hard to say.
It is quicker to read something than to write it, so given the social media writing, etc, we probably do spend more time writing than reading.
Writers spend more time writing, sure. But there are many readers who don't write much or at all, and in aggregate many more readers than writers.
And writers read WEIRDLY.
One more good reason to stay out of workshops; you'll start to play to the weird side of the house.
The answer of whether more people write than read, which is people do write more than they read, succinctly explains the death of Poetry and the attitude against reading fiction (gasp! yes, it's true, ask people how many novels they read in a year).
Though, I think with advents of ereaders, there may be a silver lining for fiction at least, because we all Poetry is dead.
For me, it depends on what I'm working on. I go through big writing phases and big reading phases. Lately, I've been reading more than writing. But that's because I'm waiting for both beta readers to get back to me before I triage. Plus, I have a cold so I'm too stuffy for creativity.
Don't even ask about social networking. Big time sucker. And I'm not even on Twitter.
Your question is a good reminder that as writers we should be spending time reading, reading, reading the genre we write. Certainly I could do more, but I find the literary or mainstream novels I read not only inspire me but often provide stunning examples of fabulous technique. How did I end up here? Why was her transition so smooth? Who would ever of thought of using that word or metaphor? It goes on and on. So your question is apt. I suggest our reading time is part our writing time.
Your question is a good reminder that as writers we should be spending time reading, reading, reading the genre we write. Certainly I could do more, but I find the literary or mainstream novels I read not only inspire me but often provide stunning examples of fabulous technique. How did I end up here? Why was her transition so smooth? Who would ever of thought of using that word or metaphor? It goes on and on. So your question is apt. I suggest our reading time is part our writing time.
A lot of the time I spend "writing" isn't at the computer: I mull through whole scenes in my head, then basically transcribe them later when I sit down.
So I think the hours spent writing might outnumber the hours spent reading, but no way are more people writing than reading. Writers are readers, plus all the people out there who aren't writers but are readers. The readers are out there, guys. My son is one of them.
I think it's a sad state of affairs, but likely.
Which begs my favorite question: if nobody's reading, who the hole are we writing TO?
I support that authors should always be professional with editors and agents, but I would think the same should apply with them towards writers. It is diffently a very hard field to get in for any new writer, but to be treated as though you are a second class citizen, well they are not gods and playing that role is very unappealing. I am for traditional publishing, but I understand why writers prefer self-publishing. This is just an observation from blogs from many authors, editors, and agents. Everyone in the field of writing, should always treat each other with the utmost respect.
I am a published author for children's book series and a mystery thriller. Let's not forget where we came from…the beginning.
Truth is writing time and reading time needs CONCENTRATION. If you are out of focus you wont be able to have perfect result. Unless if you are gifted on two tasks.
I reckon we all sometimes think that we're writing things that will never be read. It's the paranoia speaking! People won't read if there's nothing to read: keep pumping out that writing!