Internet issues kids. Thus, the reason behind the slight blog delay.

Paper Cuts, the NY Times book blog, had an interest tidbit posted today wherein they posed this question: When everyone’s a writer, is no one a reader?

The stats say that writers have increased over 20% in the U.S. So people are writing, but the National Endowment of the Arts has long lamented and continues to mourn the death of reading. I’m a bibliophile through and through, but I must admit that it’s been a long time since I sat down for a day or even finished a book.

There are several reasons for this:

 1) Time in that I rarely have a good block, i.e. 10-24 hours, to just read.

2) Reading requires greater mental acuity. At the end of the day, my mind is as sharp as a rock, and I believe studies show that TV deadens brainwaves. The higher brain region shuts down leaving only the lower, reptilian functions left. Basically, you are a couch potato.

3) Time. Really. When writing, it’s amazing how little time you have to read.

I recently considered this idea: If writers are great readers, then it would be reasonable to assume that they are the main consumers of books. However, if writers are so busy generating content, keeping up with the publishing industry changes, and looking for more jobs in which they can write, then they don’t have time to read. Also, if a writer is “poor as dirt,” then how can they indulge in their greatest consumerist pleasure? They don’t have the money to buy books. They don’t have the time to read them. They only generate them and then they move on.

I hope that was somewhat coherent. It’s in the wee hours of the morning, and lookee here! I’m writing rather than reading!

-SD