It’s the first Wednesday once again. Time for a posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. If you haven’t clicked on the link above and taken a tour of the blogs of talented writers in a virtual bloghop, what are you waiting for?
The amazing co-hosts this months are Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Mary Aalgaard, Madeline Mora-Summonte, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!
The optional October 2nd question–It’s been said that the benefits of becoming a writer who does not read is that all your ideas are new and original. Everything you do is an extension of yourself, instead of a mixture of you and another author. On the other hand, how can you expect other people to want your writing, if you don’t enjoy reading? What are your thoughts?
I think reading is integral to good writing. Reading isn’t about picking up others’ ideas. It’s about ingesting the effects of story; watching how characters can change and grow, and gasping when they do not; interacting with settings so fully you can feel the changes in temperature and light; and it’s about feeling how the right word, phrase, or description can capture a moment so perfectly that you can see it from hundreds or even millions of miles away. None of that comes from sitting only with your own ideas and basking in your very limited, single-person life. The purpose of good writing is to open up a part of the world for your reader to experience personally. How can a writer possibly do that if that if they never bother to step through the gates of a wide-open book themselves?
Time for some news.
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This is a cool idea, but I doubt most of us would be willing to wait six to nine years for a piece of furniture.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/growing-trees-furniture-gavin-munro_n_5d88e542e4b070d468d0bc3b
Um…there’s a PANTHER on the roof. I would have shit my pants.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-panther-lille-france_n_5d83d9b8e4b0849d47261195https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-panther-lille-france_n_5d83d9b8e4b0849d47261195
My science story tonight is the best type of science story: New volcanoes! Well, 780,000 years old is new for volcanoes. I can never pass up a volcano story. I heart volcanoes!
https://www.livescience.com/new-undersea-volcanoes-weird-fault.html
That’s all for tonight, folks. See you back here in a little over seven.
kimlajevardi 
I love your response to this IWSG question. Reading is so much more than ideas, and I think you captured that quite well in this post. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Great answer! Happy IWSG day 🙂
Ronel visiting and on co-hosting IWSG day Co-hosting, Flagship Content and Interesting Developments
Thanks for co-hosting!
A black panther is like the last thing you would expect to see in France. I’m glad they were able to catch it alive.
I would have been frozen with shock.
You got it right. Not only does reading keep our minds active but it inspires imagination and where in the world would people be without good old imagination?
Reading is definitely a gift to our imaginations.
You said it well! Reading helps us stretch as writers.
A black panther – now, that’s unusual.
The black panther was a crowd pleaser in my news.