Because as a writer, editor, and reviewer I forget what it’s like to just pick up a book and read for my own enjoyment. To read without care. To talk about books without thinking marketing and knowing the author.
Because the love of reading brought me to where I am today.
Being a reader means I have to actively engage with the author. I need to sit and be there looking at their words, putting them together to build my entertainment – my relaxation. TV shows and movies I can turn my mind off and just let the noise and visuals soak into me. Reading requires my mind turned on and visualizing for myself, let alone to sit quiet in a world of beeping smartphones.
I don’t know if a reader is born or trained. I’ve been read to since I was a baby, but my mom and grandmother were readers. My dad read non-fiction, something I don’t read much.
As an editor and writer, I believe it’s important to know the readers’ minds. These are the people we’re trying to reach after all.
Knowing yourself as a reader will make it easier to identify your own readers.
Keep reading!
You can always tell when someone who tries to write isn't a reader…at least not of good literature. Writers have to have good role models to emulate.