Reading is a gift for a writer.

See this post here on Let The Words Flow to know what I'm talking about.

At the age of seven, my dad signed me up for these summer reading challenges at our local library. I remember him helping me through countless of books for hours and hours, and then aiding me in my decision of the summer reading challenge prizes. From that experience came my continuous love of books, and then later my love for writing.

When my parents realized that my love of books was overruling my necessity to improve my arithmetic (also known as my second least favorite subject in school), they more or less banned me from reading. Now, as a rebellious teenager of fourteen, I'm still sneaking in books. They've lessened the severity of the ban somewhat, though. Now whenever they find me staying up late reading when I should be reviewing for SATs (particularly the math section), they just tell me to shut the book and go to bed.

(In case you haven't figured it out, I'm not exactly the best when it comes to math. I like to think I'm pretty good at it since I'm in Algebra II in my freshman year, but clearly my parents would like me to be at the top of my class. Which I'm not. Besides, I scored below average in the math section of the SATs. So.)

But you know what? The post above proves how valuable reading is. I'm a writer. We have to read. It's to keep our brain working and inspiration flowing. To not read for me would be like telling a concert pianist to stop practicing. It just doesn't work.

- E