It’s YOUR Life
I picked up a book, The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac, first published in 1992. It’s a small, humourous little book about, well, the rights of the reader—and it’s an unapologetic celebration of reading for pleasure. Not because you have to or you should or you’re supposed to (ahem, high school students and English class aside…😊), but because you want to.
Pennac offers, among others, these rights: The right not to read. The right to skip. The right to not finish a book. The right to read it again. The right to read anything. The right to mistake a book for real life. The right to read anywhere. The right to dip in.
Isn’t that a refreshing reminder, especially as writers? Read what you want!! There are no shoulds in this writing world. There are best practices—that work for some writers and not others. There are lessons learned from books—that work for some writers and not others. But reading because you have to is never going to fly. Read a new genre because you’re curious. Read a new author because you want to give them a chance. Read a new style because, well, why not? But if none of that interests you? Read what you want and then keep writing what you want.
It’s your reading life. It’s your writing life.