Writing: The Fear of Being Underread

I used to have a colleague who often asked me if I’d read a certain book in our field. If I had, she’d make a quick comment and move on. But if I hadn’t, she’d drop open her mouth, widen her eyes, and exclaim, “You haven’t? But it’s amazing! It’s totally changed what I do!”

When this happened, I’d experience the Fear of Being Underread. I’d wonder how I could have missed such an important book. I’d wonder if I was the professional I claimed to be.

But I don’t worry about my reading resumé anymore—because I learned the list of books you have or haven’t read doesn’t determine who’s a “real” writer.

Why? First, we all take different paths. Your unique perspective as a writer comes from your particular influences and experiences, including what you’ve read. There’s no magic combination of books to read in order to write something good. What you’ve read so far has helped get you to where you are, and that’s exactly where you should be.

Second, there’s so much good stuff out there to read that no one can read it all—and everyone learns about and accesses books in their own way. Maybe you buy and read every book in your favorite genre with a positive New York Times review but miss all sorts of indie titles. Maybe your life is so busy and your budget so strained that the only reading you do is listening to library audiobooks while you commute. Don’t feel bad for what’s flown under your radar or being limited by time or money. If you want to and are able to read more strategically, there are ways to do it, but there will always be books you’ve “missed.”

Finally (and this reason is my favorite): if you haven’t read an amazing book, then that means you have a fabulous experience lying in wait. Plus, books hit you differently depending on when you read them. Maybe if you’d read that can’t-miss book when it came out five years ago, you wouldn’t get as much out of it as you will now.   

The bottom line: if you hear about a great or important book that you haven’t read yet, note the title and check it out when you can. Not having read it yet doesn’t mean you’re not a writer.

There are a couple caveats to this:

1) If you’re writing a book positioning yourself as an expert in your field, you need to be able to back up that claim. There may be certain books you truly need to read and refer to so you can establish your credibility.

2) You need to be familiar with books similar to yours so that you can make sure your work is different and that you don’t claim an idea as innovative when it’s been written about ten times already.

The good news is that if you work with a writing professional, they can combine their reading resumé with yours—and those of us who work in the world of writing tend to read a lot.

Contact me if you’d like to know more about how I can help you write your book—or if you want to know my favorite books. :)