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As with any relationship, the more time you put into it, the more you will get out of it. So it is with a writer’s love of words and literature. Here are three ways you can feed that love and strengthen your relationship with your writing. This weekend, choose one of these three options and put it into action.
3 Ways to Feed Your Love of Literature
1) Keep a Reading Log. Whether you use the good ol’ fashioned method and log the books you read in a notebook, or you prefer something more high-tech like a spreadsheet or an online community, it helps to log the books you read as you finish reading them. I like to use GoodReads to keep track of books but that online community offers much more than just a tool for keeping a reading list. I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of all it has to offer, but highly recommend it based on what I’ve seen so far.
2) Keep a Journal or a Notebook. I’ve been keeping a journal since I was ten years old (I still have that very first beat-up diary). Lately, I’ve turned from keeping a journal to keeping a notebook, where I jot down story ideas, do writing exercises and brainstorm concepts I’m working on. I find I think better with a pen in my hand so I like to work out ideas on paper and it helps to keep it all together in one notebook.
3) Memorize a Piece of Writing that You Love. When you memorize a piece of writing you can take it with you anywhere. You can memorize anything you like, from poetry to monologues to favorite first and last lines. Once you have something memorized, no one can take it from you and you can carry that writing with you everywhere you go.
Weekend Prompt: Pick one of these three ways to feed your love of literature and do it. If you need to go out and get a notebook to write in, treat yourself this weekend. Or maybe you need to take a few minutes to set up an account on GoodReads and start logging your books. Or perhaps you choose to memorize a favorite piece of writing, so spend the weekend solidifying the piece in your memory.
Remember, as with any love affair, you need to take some time to stoke the flames so they don’t go out. This weekend, make it your mission to rekindle that love of literature you had when you first started writing.
Comments on this post
I’ve been on GoodReads for a couple of years and I love it. The recommendation feature gives recommendations based on your favorite genres or your bookshelves. Plus, having access to multiple reviews in one place makes it much easier to decide if a book is worth your time.
17. February - 11:24 amAs a college student, I’ve had to think of creative ways to find time for reading. But lately I feel like I don’t have any time at all to read simply for pleasure and not for my studies. This post really hit home for me because I’d like to find that time again to enjoy the very thing that made me begin to write at a young age, and that is reading.
I’m a huge collector and fan of notebooks and journals of all kinds…usually at the end of every book I read, I write down my thoughts and reaction toward the characters, the themes covered, the writer and just the novel as a whole. It really helps me “wrap up” my “relationship” with that book. Hmm, maybe I should start doing that with my class textbooks too
17. February - 5:13 pm