Reading Keeps Me Writing

Something that I've discovered during this writing process, as I'm sure many of you have during your own journeys, is that the most difficult thing to do is to keep writing. To keep on, keeping on, as I like to say. Those who have been reading this blog know that I'm attempting to write my first novel. Along the way, I've experienced (and continue to experience) moments, periods, where I stray a bit and get distracted by life, work, etc. Sometimes I just don't feel the excitement to write, to edit, and/or to look at those same words all over again. The thing is, I have kept on. I've discovered a little trick that really helps me re-energize, in those moments where the experience isn't quite as fresh. Here's what I do:

I read.

Simple right? Of course it is. That said, simple doesn't necessarily mean it's not extremely successful. (It also doesn't mean it will work for everyone.) When I'm feeling like I need a restart, I pick up a book. Often it's the newest Stephen King. Right now I'm reading his latest, Revival. Reviving me is exactly what it's done. What happens to me is that, after reading his words, and again feeling that feeling you get what a book just draws you in, I start thinking, "Man, I want my book to do that. I want my book to make someone else feel those feels." And then, simply enough, I start typing again. Writing energy returned. I'm engaged and refreshed. A revival, of sorts.

Again, this isn't necessarily for everyone. We've all got our tricks. For me, I've got to be in the right place. Sometimes just seeing another awesome piece of literature can bring me back.

So, do your thing. Whatever it is. Just remember to keep on, keeping on.

Love,
Tom

What Would Harper Do?

Of course I'm referring to the "sequel" to Harper Lee's magnum opus To Kill A Mockingbird that is apparently on its way to us. I wonder aloud (so much so that people in public stop plucking their groceries from the shelves and stare at me) what Harper has to say about all of this. By all accounts, she's quite elderly, blind, deaf, yada-yada. There has yet to be a statement released by her. We're all to assume that she's given the green light on all of this, but... did she?

I can't help but consider the wide spectrum of emotion that this news has brought to us bookophiles of the world... I've seen both outright jubilation and abject horror (once from the same person). Many of us recoil at the sound of To Kill A Mockingbird II: Return of Boo, but couldn't our concerns be eased a bit if Harper herself came out and was like, "Look, guys. Chill. I wrote this. Trust me, I wrote it. Oh, and by the way, it's pretty freaking awesome."

Would that be so hard? That's all it would take, by the way. I mean, if she is actually coherent enough to give the "go-ahead" on the new novel, her second ever, wouldn't she also be capable of issuing one little statement?

What do you think of all of this Harper?

While we're at it, here are some more sequels of classic works that I think would be equally amazing/horrifying to myself and others like me. Fortunately, none of these ever happened.

Lord of the Flies: Part Deux. The Curse of Piggy

Macbeth 2: Dead and Loving It

The Stranger II: No Longer a Stranger

Blue Eggs and Ham: Still I Am

Sleep Tight 'Ya Morons!: A Collection of Bedtime Stories from the Mind of Holden Caulfield

On the Road. Again.

Paradise Found.