The Joy Of Being A Reader

Yesterday's post was a review of The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, which is a current 'must read' book. Where would writers like Ms Quinn be without readers who devour the stories novelists write? These readers don't only peruse books. A true reader is into short stories, creative nonfiction, essays, articles--almost anything in print. 

Readers are greedy--they always want to read more and more. Is it an addiction? Perhaps but, if so, it's certainly a positive one.  The poster above gives us one reason we love to read. Stories take us away from the everyday routine, stress, and to-do lists. I find reading my greatest form of relaxation.

No picture with this next poster but the words paint a vivid scene for us. And, if you're an avid reader, you'll be able to relate with a smile and a nod, whispering Been there, done that. 

I feel sorry for the person who never, or seldom, reads. They obviously don't feel like they are missing anything or they'd delve into the deep waters of the book world. I would love to be able to convince them that reading can enrich their lives in countless ways. I've heard many reasons, or excuses, from non readers. I don't have time. I like  to do physical things, not sit and read. I have no interest in reading; i hated it in school and still do. Who cares? Those of us who are voracious readers know that not only do we derive enjoyment from our reading but we learn so many things we might not have known otherwise. 

This final poster gives me a mental image of the non reader confined to a tiny little space on this planet arms at his/her side, eyes closed. In my visual, the reader has his/her arms spread wide and eyes opened, and a smile because of all the vicarious lives he/she has led through the myriad books and stories read. 

It's never too late to become a reader. Start today or tomorrow with a trip to your local library. Don't have a card? Well, step up to the desk. A librarian would be most happy to help you obtain one. Start scanning the shelves until a title attracts you. Read the frontispiece or back cover blurbs. When one piques your interest, check it out, go home and start reading. When you're finished, that library has thousands more books waiting just for you. Trust me on this--reading is a joy.

Writers Need Readers

Yesterday, Ken and I went to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City to attend a symphony performance. It's a magnifcent building opened in 2011. An hour prior to the performance, the Symphony Director and two other men held an informal talk and question & answer time. To listen to a symphony orchestra director, a solo clarinetist and a composer talk about the music we'd hear was informative and quite interesting. 

One of the things that Anthony McGill, the principal clarinetist for the New York Philharmonic, said stayed with me. He told a story about an audience member saying to him, "I'm no musician but..." Mr. McGill said that he stopped the man at that point and told him that, yes, he was a musician. That a musician requires an audience to hear his music. There would be no reason for him to play over and over only for himelf. So both the man making the music and the one hearing it are musicians.

I thought about what he said and decided that we can apply the same principle to writing. As writers, we need readers. Most of us write so that our words will be read by someone somewhere. Oh sure, a few people write only for themselves but they are in a definite minority. 

When I write a children's story, I aim for a large audience of kids. I hope that the story I write will entertain them, help them see certain aspects of life, and make them want to read more stories. When I write a personal essay, my goal is to bring something to my readers that might be of interest and also remind them of some universal truth that the essay illustrates. I also write to give my readers pleasure in some way.

I write this blog to help other writers--to give them tips of the trade and to encourage them to keep on writing. What good would this blog be without you, the reader? 

Just as the musician needs an audience to hear the music, we writers need you, our readers. 

Back to the symphony performance. We were entertained by some fine classical music and a new composition by Richard Danielpour whose Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, "From the Mountaintop,"  The performance afforded us a rare treat. In the same vein, I hope that some of the things I write have provided a rare treat for some of my readers.