What are you doing with your words?

I write better when I am reading.

No joke. It is part of the reason I love blogging. And a good chunk of the reason why I love reading. It's not about my posts, it about reading yours. And sometimes it's not about writing books, it's about opening others.

Stringing words together is like jewelry making. Even if I am lacking the diamonds I want to see what you are doing with your sparkly things. And I might even find a few for myself...

Actually, here's a better analogy for writing (since I know nothing about the world of jewelry making) Writing is like getting dressed. I know what suits me, I know my style and I know what size I am. But, hell yeah, I want to trawl through catalogues and see what's in this season. I want to squish my face up against the glass outside the department store windows and ogle all the pretty things. I dream of maxing out my credit card. I spend hours in store change rooms trying everything on half a dozen times. I want to know if my butt looks big in it or if the dress might be see though when the sun catches it.

I want to know what your wearing. Where you bought it and if they have my size. How much did you say you paid? What shoes are you going to wear with it, what are you going to do with your hair and, damn girl, where did you get those earrings?

That's why I read.

I want to see what you're doing with your words. I want to see what they are doing with their words. What goes with green? How did they describe the clear sky after the snow? What did they say about the old lady whose beauty can still be seen, even in the lines of her face?

I want to know how you see life? What moves you enough to make you post about it? What do you find funny? Do you write giggles and the sadness? What does this thing we spend so much time doing look like when you put it down on paper?

How do you write?

I want to see it.

I want to feel its fur, run my fingers across its sleek edges or just admire the sheer loveliness. And yeah, I even want to see the raw and the ugly; the cliff faces and the rocks on the way down. Because reading adds to who I am as a person, it opens my eyes to worlds I may never see and it invites me to imagine.... what if? Your writing sparks play spaces in my mind, with all their possibilities.

I have time to read. Even when I don't. Because when I stop reading, I find the writing dries up along with it. Reading and writing are two dear old souls who want nothing more than to sit together and chat. And I like to let them.

So, I guess that is all a very long way to say, I love reading and a huge thank you for the privilege of reading your blogs. And to all the authors out there who write and open the porthole for just a little while so I can climb in your heads and watch what you do with these exquisite things called words, I am forever in your debt.

What about you? How do reading and writing go together in your world?