Austin Kleon wrote something about treating well-loved writers as old friends:
While I am a great proponent of reading more than one book at a time and letting books talk to each other, I also believe that when you find a writer who unlocks something in you, you should spend as much time with them as you can, read and re-read everything they wrote, and then “swim upstream” and try to read what they read.
This need not happen all at once. I like to think of these writers as old friends that I can rely on. No matter where we are, we can pick up where we left off.
From the post Seneca on Reading
As I’ve updated my Right Now page recently, I’ve become aware of how much Steve Chandler I’ve been reading.
For me, right now, Chandler unlocks something. I find reading and re-reading him, at this stage and in this phase of my life, powerful and helpful.
I appreciate Austin Kleon’s perspective on this: it’s a reminder that there’s no shame in going all-in on a writer’s work.
