Sean Ferrell, On Reading

"Writing without reading is like flying without an airplane. You could probably do it, but you have to work like hell and failure is both likely and tragic. Reading is a writer's engine. Reading is a writer's wings.

Reading wraps a writer in the comfort of knowing he is not alone. In reading, you find yourself in another's words. You find so many great thoughts holding hands that they drape over you and become your own. In reading, you find yourself cherishing the idea that working hard, alone, in a solitary craft, makes you feel more connected than anything you might do in a crowd.

Reading lets a writer find her blade-thin path. You find your thoughts, only not. You find your loves, or almost. This book, that poem, those plays, they say what you would say… but not quite. In reading, a writer can find that her voice hasn't been heard. In reading, a writer can find her place in the choir."


{ Sean Ferrell is the author of Numb . For more information, visit his website here .}