Writer's Block: Why I Sometimes Hate Reading

I’m a bookworm and I am proud to call myself as such.  If it weren’t for reading, I would have failed almost every spelling test I got in the first and second grade, and I would not have my own sense of imagination. Reading helped me build wonderful things in my own head, and it kinda built my personality. So in short, it has made me the person I am today. But there will be times when reading will give me a horrible feeling. There will be small instances when I will feel distaste whenever I set my eyes on a book. Why is that? Well, if reading comes with good stuff, it can come with bad things too.

I will probably say the most obvious reasons as early as now. The first reason is simple; books are effin’ expensive. I hate how a simple joy in life called a book would cost as much as a Hipster graphic tee in H&M. That’s how crazy the economy is, nowadays, and that’s probably why Youtubers and celebrities suddenly have the burning passion for writing. Also, books have the ability to make my life look like a dull page, and I mostly read fiction. I read fantasy novels that have all the magic, the sci-fi, the dramatic heroes, the over-cliched romances, and the suspense. Most protagonists in high fantasy novels will disagree with me on this one but, their live are awesome. I would trade my soul just to have one simple adventure that involves dungeons and fairies (wait that somehow didn’t come out right). Unfortunately, in the end I will be slapped by reality and be reminded that there will never ever be a portal that will take me to an amazing fictitious world. But just once, I want my life to be like YA novel. I want to walk down in the hallways, meet a satyr telling me I’m an extraordinary demigod and I’m needed to save the world. It may sound like a heavy burden, but I would take this heavy burden over final exams. But again, no. I’m my own writer of my very own story. So I guess it’s up to me to make my lifetime extraordinary.

I sometimes hate reading because I know I will never get a satisfying ending and this happened half the time I’ve been a bookworm, which has been almost two decades. If I don’t get the ending I want, it’s either I have to wait for the sequel in a year or two or I don’t get a round two or three at all. That alone irks me. It sounds selfish that I’m being choosy when it comes to endings, but books are forms of entertainment. Therefore, they must entertain me. How can I enjoy knowing my favorite character died? How can I be happy not knowing things are going to be okay in the next book? Those thoughts tend to drive me nuts. Don’t even try judging me, I know you’ve been down this path too. Every reader goes through this. And if you haven’t, then let me warn you now; there will come a time when you’re reading a book and you won’t like where the plot is going at all. It’s pretty similar to watching the Game of Thrones, trust me.

In connection to storylines, I hate going on a book hiatus. This usually happens whenever I read book series. I have to wait at least year, if I want to know what happens next. The wait can be the definition of torment itself. It has made me detest waiting. Especially when the story is getting really good, but then it ends in a cliffhanger. I don’t know with you but it can be the worst feeling the world! Finishing a book with a cliffhanger is the equivalent of watching a horror film. It’s going to take time for you to get back to your regular sleeping pattern (assuming you have one), because you will be staying up all night coming up with theories and guesses on what’s going to happen next. Sometimes, I just can’t stand waiting and talking about it. I just cheat on this book series with another, and that doesn’t help at all because this other book likes bringing out cliff hangers, too and I still lose.

I also hate it when a book suddenly gets into the concept of death. It has become an insane trend in between novels lately. Whether it’s about a dystopian world or a kid who’s got an incurable disease, somebody has to die. What’s worse is that whoever dies is  someone  that we care about because the writers know that if they kill of an insignificant character, nobody will give a damn and quickly move on (well that’s what usually happens, anyway). It’s their sly tactic to make us savor their books so we can talk about it more, because this will create more buzz, then more people will be curious about it, which will make them buy the books until they cry about it, and the whole cycle goes on repeat. It’s basically an indirect marketing strategy, because thanks to our “feels”, we are promoting the books for the writers. Luckily most of the books celebrated are really good ones.

And there you have it. A fangirl explaining why she sometimes hates reading. If you can relate to anything that I just said, feel free to comment about your misgivings on reading on my Disqus (yay! I has Disqus) account, which will feature this very topic. That is it and till the next post~