A Dangerous Side Effect of Becoming a Writer

So if you're reading this, it probably means you're a writer. And whether you are full-time or whenever-you-can-squeeze-it-in, published or taking steps in that direction, it seems many of us suffer from the same affliction once we decide to "get serious" about this writing thing.

We cut our reading time.

Sure, it's not intentional. We only have so much time and we want to grab every second we have to chase this dream. And that means writing, writing ,writing...and blogging and tweeting and facebooking and researching the craft and querying and building a brand and creating a website and ooh, a newsletter, and wow, Tumblr. And oh yeah, my spouse/family/children may want to see me every now and then without a laptop attached.

It's like Alice's rabbit hole. Things start swirling around and we get sucked in to being constantly busy. Making us forget what started us wanting to be writers in the first place...

Books. Reading. Getting lost in a story.

Case and point - My Reading Stats:
(I started writing again at the end of 2008.)
2009 - read 85 books
2010 - read 40 books
2011 - have read 26 so far

This obvious decline makes me sad. Something that used to be such an integral part of my life is becoming an afterthought. I literally have an entire bookcase of unread books staring at me.

And I know it's not just me. I hear the same story from other writers. And once you've got a contract and are working on a deadline, the problem gets even worse because now there is this expectation on you--one you can't fall short on.

And this doesn't just affect your entertainment/downtime in your life; it affects your writing. If all you do is pour out words and never refill the well with reading, you risk your creativity going dry.

New stories feed our muse. They challenge us. They expose us to new things, other types of voices, different styles. Imagine if a film director said he rarely gets time to watch movies. We'd look at him like he was nuts.

Reading helps you become a better writer. It makes you a happier, more balanced person. It reminds you why you spend so many hours typing away on that keyboard in the first place.

So I'm challenging myself to look hard at my schedule and find a pocket of time at least three days a week to read. An extra hour on Twitter may raise my Klout score, but an hour lost in a book will feed my soul.

And my reader soul feels downright anorexic right now.

So how about you? Do you find yourself cutting out your reading time more and more to do more "writerly" things? Do you find your creativity stalls if you stop reading for a while? How big is your TBR pile? 

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“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION
CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order! Read an excerpt here.

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All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

2011 Book Challenges

THIS LIST HAS MOVED HERE.

I love structure and an organized way to tackle my reading for the year. So this year I'm joining a number of reading challenges. The main one will be this first one, the Outdo Yourself challenge. The rest I'm using as sub-categories of that one because all will count towards that main goal.

This will be the place where I keep track of the books as I finish them (so this is not an official post). If you're interested in signing up for any of these challenges, you can check out these and a lot more here.

*Read more than the 40 books I read last year.*

1. Behind the Duke's Door by Lynne Silver
2. Strange Attractions by Emma Holly
3. Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly
4. Beyond Eden by Kele Moon
5.

*Read at least 20 ebooks*

1. Behind the Duke's Door by Lynne Silver
2. Beyond Eden by Kele Moon
3.

*Read at least 20 in the genre*

1. Behind the Duke's Door by Lynne Silver
2. Strange Attractions by Emma Holly
3. Beyond Eden by Kele Moon
4.

*read at least 12 in the genre*

1.
2.
3.

Resolution Time: Goals and Reading Challenges for 2011

Last year I made a list of personal and writing goals. Some I accomplished, some I didn't, and some kickass things I never anticipated happening...did. :)  Results were reported here. So I figured I should stick with tradition and set some new goals for the coming year. I think the power of intention and putting stuff out there really can be effective. (Especially when I hold myself accountable to the results publicly, lol.)

So here goes...

Writing Goals:

Complete Book 2 in the Exposure Therapy series way ahead of my June deadline.

Draft at least one additional full length novel.

Sell Wanderlust. (rollover from last year) --It's still under consideration at Harlequin, so if it doesn't sell to them, my alternative goal is to break down the book and rewrite it as a full length to submit to other pubs. I'm not ready to tuck those characters or their story under the bed. :)

Attend RWA Nationals in NYC. --I attended last year's and now can't imagine not going. But logistics with kiddo are going to take some working out.

Attempt to write a short piece (short story or novella) --I am totally intimidated at the idea of writing anything shorter than category length (55k), but I think writing something briefer will be a good exercise for me.

Blogging Goals:

Continue to keep up a regular blogging schedule and hopefully not bore you all. :)

Perhaps start or join a group blog and do more guest blogging.

Reading goals:

Read 50 or more books.
--Last year my goal was 100 and I failed miserably--I hit 40. So I figure this one is more reasonable. :) I'm going to do this by way of the following reading challenges:

This means I will read more books in 2011 than I read in 2010. If you want to sign up for the challenge, hop on over to The Book Vixen.

and

Sign up for Ebook challenge here. I hope to read at least 20 ebooks.

and

Erotic Romance Reading Challenge. Sign up for this one here. I plan to read 20 in this genre.

and

I need to read more in this genre since I, um, kind of write it. My books have a lot of suspense in them and I need to beef up my knowledge of suspense elements. So I plan to read at least 12 of these. Sign up here.

Each of these separate challenges will all count toward my total 50 (outdo) challenge. For a list of all kinds of reading challenges, you can go here.

Personal Goals:

Potty train the kiddo (a rollover goal from last year)

Be in a size ten or lower by the time I go to previously mentioned RWA Nationals.--I've been on Weight Watchers for a month, so I'm already started on this one. :)

Have a better work/life balance.

So those are mine. What are some of your goals for the new year? Are you joining any writing or reading challenges? What goal do you most hope to accomplish?


Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

Looking Back at 2009

I know it's not quite the end of the year yet, but I started my writing journey in November of last year, so it's easier for me to recap from that point.  Here's what my year looked like with regards to books, music, and writing.

Books read: 79

Young Adult: 41

Adult Romance (including paranormal/erotic/historic/contemporary): 24

Non-fiction/Writing Books: 7

Other (Literary, Mystery, Horror, etc.): 7

Here's a sampling of what I've read.  For more detail, you can visit my GoodReads page:

Roni's book montage

Roni Griffin's favorite books »

Now as many of you know from reading this blog, I'm also a bit obsessed with music and going to concerts, so I'm going to include that list as well.  Music always inspires me in my writing and this was especially true this year.  The Buckcherry/Aerosmith concert was definitely where I got the idea for writing Wanderlust.  My husband and I have binged on live music a bit this year because the previous year we had a new baby and hadn't found a babysitter we felt comfy with yet, so we barely went to any.

Here's the list (not all of these were separate shows, some were opening bands at the same concert.)

Weezer

Angels and Airwaves

Pink

The Ting-Tings

AC/DC

New Kids on the Block

Fall Out Boy

Chicago

Earth, Wind, & Fire

Kelly Clarkson

The Offspring

The Toadies

Bowling for Soup (2x)

U2

Muse

No Doubt

Paramore

All-American Rejects

Taking Back Sunday

30 Seconds to Mars

Buckcherry

KISS

My Writing Progress:

Two novels completed and revised:

• YA (Shadow Falls) 
• Contemporary Romance (Wanderlust)

Joined a crit group

Joined RWA and local chapter

Started a blog.

• 113 posts
• hit over 200 followers (thanks guys!)

Whew, it's been a fun year!  Can't wait to see what the next one brings.  I have not thought through goals for the next year yet, but I do plan to come up with some, at least with regards to writing.  I know there are a lot of reading challenges popping up around blogs (here's a good list if you're interested), but I"m not sure if I'll commit to any of those.  I read like I write, I can't plan too far ahead.  :)

So how about you?  How was your year with regards to reading or writing or music?  Are you setting any specific goals for yourself for the next year?  Is anyone joining any of these reading challenges?

**Today's Theme Song**
"From Yesterday" - 30 Seconds to Mars

(player in sidebar if you'd like a listen)