Reading is one of those fun activities that fuels writing. It’s easy to think that if it’s fun, it’s optional. It isn’t. Lately I’ve been reading some old favorites along with new releases and nonfiction. My bedside table is a jumble of Alison Kent’s latest, Loretta Chase backlist, a Patrick McManus mystery, and a book on traditional food preservation techniques put together by French farmers and gardeners.

When I get stuck writing, I tend to think that I should nail myself to the chair and work until I get some page count out. This disciplined approach has turned out to be counter-intuitive. It’s unproductive, because the problem isn’t discipline. What gets the fiction wheel spinning is moving away from the writing and returning to reading. Or doing something completely different, removed from words, that involves the senses.

Lawrence Block talks about burning the raft at both ends, or writing up all your material while failing to go create more experience to have something to write about. In other words, the more you write, the more you need to read, and make time to do other things.

Read anything that inspired or enthralled you lately?