Reading or writing? Which do you spend more time doing?
I love both and often find it hard to make a choice. I want to finish reading a new book but my characters are calling and I need to get back to work. It can be quite a dilemma.
Over the years, I have fallen into a routine that works for me and allows me to enjoy both of my favorite pastimes.
Mornings, I check email and then read an ebook during breakfast and for a short while afterwards. I also read any important information I need to learn such as research for one of my books. And I take notes.
After lunch I write. I hunker down in my office having first put on some spa music in the background – that keeps me surrounded by calm and less likely to get distracted. I can write for about three or four hours some days or sometimes less, depending on where I am in the book and if there is anything else I need to be doing – like a dentist appointment. Ugh.
I continue to read the current ebook again while I enjoy my dinner and then it is time for relaxation as I watch, you guessed it, detective shows on television. I am addicted to the British ones.
But there’s more reading in store for me. Once I settle in bed, I pick up an actual physical book and read some more. I started reading real books at bedtime after seeing reports that said exposure to the blue light on screens right before bedtime could disturb sleep. And I do find I fall asleep easier. I usually read a non-fiction book at bedtime though at times I’ve been known to binge read a new novel because “I can’t put it down.”
This how I balance my reading and writing. What do you do?
