I think it’s safe to say that all writers began as avid readers. Just as all painters look at other pieces before painting their own piece, all writers read the works of others before crafting their own work. You’d be hard-pressed to find a writer who has never enjoyed reading.

River Street’s talented junior copywriter, Margaret Huntley.

From a young age I always loved to read. However, recently I have found myself not desiring to read as much as I used to. Fortunately, in my university program I am forced to read anyways, but without this imperative I know wouldn’t be reading nearly as much as I should be. In the back of my mind I know it is important to read so that I can improve my craft, but I just find myself very unmotivated. I think that this is at least partially due to the fact that reading just feels like work now.

When I was in high school, I worked as a cashier and after a long day at work, it made sense for me to come home and read on my downtime because reading was nothing like what I had spent my entire day doing. But now that I am a full-time student, after a long day of reading over drafts, novels, and essays the last thing I want to do is read more. Especially if my motivation for reading is so that I can be better at my career. I’d much rather do something unrelated like scroll through social media or talk on the phone with friends, neither of which are inherently bad, but they shouldn’t replace reading altogether.

Now, I don’t think that there is anything wrong with not wanting to have your job bleed into your personal hobbies (there’s a good reason that I didn’t scan things when I got home from work in high school). However, it’s different when your favourite hobby has become your career. After all, I chose to write as a career because I love reading and writing and wanted to keep doing that.

I’ve spent enough time talking about a problem, so I think it’s about time I start discussing a solution. When I was a kid, I read books not to analyze or dissect the plot points, but just for the pure entertainment, but I still learned without even realizing it. I learned things like what aspects of a storyline are most compelling, what character details are realistic, what genres I’m comfortable with, and so much more. As a kid I learned this without even thinking about it because I didn’t put any pressure on it to be “for work.” I just read for fun and learning was a natural by-product.

This is precisely the resolution to the issue I have described. If I think of all reading as work, then it will always feel like work and I won’t want to do it anymore. But when I choose to read on my own time, for the sole purpose of entertaining myself, then I will have fun while unconsciously learning, just like I used to. So, if you find yourself facing the same problem that I have been recently, then I advise you to stop thinking so much and just read!