Writing: Reverb10

December 2 – Writing 
What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)

Undoubtedly, the time I spend reading detracts from my writing. Specifically, reading content on the internet that does little more than serve as junk food. Fills some sort of need, briefly, without nourishment.

The books I read - even the magazines that coax me to sleep each evening - inspire me and give my thoughts wings. I finished Franzen's Freedom and thought, "Oh, oh, oh. Such depth, such beauty, such life."

Well, okay; maybe that's an exaggeration. I probably thought something more like, "Holy crap. That was a good book."

Regardless, I read - some of it trash, some of it golden. And all that steals the moments from my days - Facebook, poorly-written blogs that appeal to my voyeuristic nature - all those thiefs must step aside in order for me to write. They rob my thoughts and offer little more than weak-winged words and incomplete sentences. Having a status is a poor substitute for being alive.

And I'm a sucker for it.

**Part of a writing prompt project for December designed by Reverb10. Check them out and join in!