MANDIRA PATTNAIK

If you are a writer, don’t read. That is the advice of leading writers, thinkers and eminent personalities, including Albert Einstein, Philip Roth, Cormac McCarthy and William Woodard. Sounds like literary sacrilege, doesn’t it? More so, given that, as writers, we want to read everything we can lay our hands on. But, turns out, there are more layers to it.

Embarrassed by my own declining reading hours since becoming a writer, and guilty of being paranoid at the sight of others posting images of their tall towers of TBR piles on social media, I decided to probe further. Turns out the shortfall of reading among writers is neither a rare phenomenon, nor of recent origins possibly brought about by the advent of the screen. In fact, Clarice Lispector, in a 1976 interview, admitted she reads very little when working on a book: “I read very little… It’s a crime, but it’s true.” I also discovered something called “Passive Reading” and to counter it, something called “Active Reading”.

These are things no body tells you about, encouraging instead to read as much as one can, at the cost of losing one’s originality, neutrality and that precious thing, called “voice”. So this subject begged further investigation, and I did exactly that, tracing my reading patterns and looking for answers as to what may be causing the shortfall. Are you experiencing this too?

Tracing my life-journey, I realized I have always been an avid reader. But in the six years I’ve been actively writing and submitting and publishing across the world (somewhere in between becoming the first writer based in India to be in the main list of Wigleaf Top 50 List of Very Small Fictions), reading complete novels, or for that matter any complete book, has become a much desired, but rarely achieved goal. I wasn’t sure if it was a semi-conscious choice I’d made. Exploring the subject further led me to topics such as “The choice between active reading and ‘Closing the Books’ and if this is an age-specific problem? What about emerging writers who are yet to reach their best? Are they putting off reading too?

One thing led to another, and many things started to tumble out. For example, as most of you, I have some common, and a few unique reading habits. What may be a common thing is that I am more partial to some authors than others. Turns out, that is not a great idea either—in case you happen to be writing as well—to be reading the same author again and again.

Further, I discovered that reading widely helps with writing, as does reading outside one’s preferences, though some writers have outrightly rejected it.

After weeks of research, I published an article with my findings: Literary Sacrilege— The Advice Against Reading. The article not only goes in-depth with the problem and its symptoms, but how, left untreated, reading may actually ruin your writing. The good part is that it also suggests how to self diagnose and take measures to prevent it from happening to you. I’m sure the article will be enlightening and you’ll have lots to ponder over.

Thanks for reading. As always, I’ll look forward to reading your comments and thoughts on this subject! Happy reading and writing!