I think there are many people in this world that could do without reading at all…so what makes the rest of us readers so excited?
Well, I can only speak for myself here. For me, it is the idea/concept that the books that I read are a crafted work of art. Someone wrote those words. Someone felt these emotions before writing them down. When I look at a book that way, it feels like an honor to simply read it.
As I have been working on several manuscripts in the past few months I am realizing just how much time goes into creating a manuscript. Writing, erasing, editing, re-writing, time to think and breaks to brainstorm, outlining, re-writing, digging deep within to even find words, it makes some of my poetry feel like small projects when I compare them to the time and effort that goes into these manuscripts.
Poetry is amazing. I love writing it and I love reading it. If you think about it, it’s kind of like taking 70,000 word novels and turning them into a 100 word poem…
To me they are both amazing. I have gained a lot of renewed respect lately at the talent required to do this micro and macro level writing and I feel honored to feel a part of that group that just couldn’t do without a journal and a pen. (or laptop!)
So to all fellow poets, bloggers, novelists, writers of any kind… thank-you for taking the time to write for the world. I don’t know what I’d do without a good book on a rainy day!
Gretchen Leary (McIntire) 