iUniverse Blog

Samuel Johnson

It is difficult to think of a writer who doesn’t enjoy reading. iUniverse can quote a myriad of authors who have enthusiastically stated their love of reading, though one of the most succinct statements is from Dr. Samuel Johnson: “A man will turn over half a library to make one book”.

The questions remain as to how to find time for this, and also, what to read. So starting today, iUniverse provides answers to these questions in our usual practical and direct way.

Finding time: reading is unfortunately an easy pastime to procrastinate against. In the morning, you are in a rush to get to work; and in the evening, your eyes are tired, especially if you work at a computer all day (which most of us do!). Nevertheless, there are solutions:

Ritualize your reading time. As with your writing, you can set aside time where you won’t get interrupted. This can be an hour before you usually get up in the morning, when all is quiet. You can also get into bed a bit earlier, before you are very tired, and lie down and read for an hour. One professor that this writer knew used to get into bed at 10pm and read Spenser’s The Faerie Queene for an hour, though for many of us, Spenser’s heavy epic may simply put us to sleep!
Keep the current book with you at all times. In your car or on the train, keep that book next to you. We don’t recommend reading while you drive, of course, but arriving somewhere early or being stuck in a traffic jam can be a good time to read a chapter or two. Treat your book like American Express: “Don’t leave home without it.”
Lunchtime: instead of searching the web at lunchtime or always going out to chat with colleagues, choose a few days per week and just sit somewhere quiet with your food and your book. You’ll get some reading done and will also feel refreshed.
Have a number-of-pages goal: enforce the reading of 50 pages a day, with no excuses accepted.

We’ll be back with suggestions on WHAT to read in Part 2 — coming shortly! In the meantime, what is your Reading Regimen? Write in to let us know.

Make sure to check out the iUniverse site for more advice and blogs, as well as iUniverse Facebook and iUniverse Twitter.