Here’s today’s big confession: I don’t really read. Yeah, I’m aware I have a bookstagram (book-focused Instagram), which makes it all the worse.

Writers have to be readers. It’s been said about a million times, and trust me, I know it’s true. Without our love of books, how would any of us become writers?

But the truth is that my entire life has been this way. It was a little easier when I was little and didn’t have electronics to keep me busy, but I’ve always read in phases. It takes all of my strength to start reading a new book. I’ll always put it off and off and off and I’m not quite sure why. Some of my happiest memories are when I’ve been in those “reading phases,” but it’s super hard for me to get in one. I’m the same way with TV shows. Once I get into them, I’m great and can’t stop watching. But like I said, the strength it takes for me to break my routine and log into Netflix is strangely hard.

I’ve decided to call it reader’s block, because it seems very similar to writer’s block to me. I write in phases too. For instance, if I’m stuck at a certain spot in a manuscript, I’ll just keep putting it off and eventually writing falls out of my routine entirely. That’s probably my main issue—I just get stuck in routines so much that breaking them feels foreign and frustrating.

Like I said before though, some of my favorite times in my life have been in those reading phases. I used to live for book hangovers. The one I had after I finished The Hunger Games trilogy was especially memorable for me. It just sucks that it takes so much effort now to have that feeling again.

I’m not sure what exactly my goal was with this post. I just want people to feel better if they feel this way too, as well as get it off my chest. I know I should stop feeling guilty about it, but I also know I need to put more effort in to break that routine of not reading.

Do you deal with this feeling to? How do you cope? I’d love to know. 🙂