A Writer’s Life: Printed Pages or Pixels

For many years, I was of the ‘give me a real book’ school of thought.  I disliked the idea of an e-reader when they first appeared on the scene.  I thought at the time that no amount of pressure would get me to release my precious real books. I loved bookstores.  I loved buying used books from Amazon. I kept as many as possible, and donated the rest to the library in the small town my parents live in.

And then Dance of Dragons by George R. R. Martin came out in hardback, and I bought it.

I read mostly in bed.  I could not read that book in bed.  It was heavy.  Clunky. Huge.

At the time, I had a Google tablet that Ben had gotten me for Christmas, so I bought the book again from Google Books, and happily read it without any extra pressure on my neck and spine. I could read longer! I could read easier at night! All signs pointed to my complete conversion to reading on a tablet.

I have gotten rid of a lot of real books.  Most of them, before I moved from Wisconsin to Maryland, and yet another series that I hated to part with (Black Jewels by Anne Bishop) but that I simply no longer had shelf-space for. I have only three series now, in physical form. And in some ways, that breaks my heart.

When my writing room renovation is completed, I will have room for more. And I will likely buy a few series that I have enjoyed over the past few years (namely, the two Kushiel series from Jacqueline Carey).  But I continue to read in pixel form, because it is easier on my neck, easier on my back, and in many ways, easier on my purse.

This is not to say that I do not enjoy a trip to the bookstore, because I still do.  I love walking into a book shop, chain or independent.  The world, at that moment, is as open to me as it ever will be. Inside of a bookstore, you can go anywhere.  You can be anything. I do occasionally buy physical books, but they are mostly research books, cookbooks (this is an obsession for me that will never be replaced by e-books), the occasional non-fiction book. Some of these, I will never part with (writing craft books especially), and some I pass on to family and friends. There will likely never be a time when I say no to a trip to a bookstore.

The convenience of reading in a tablet is something I will likely never give up either.  It’s so much easier to travel with.  I used to take at least two books on a plane, in case I finished one. Now, I take a tablet loaded with eight to ten books, ready for me always.  I read on my phone in the car because Ben does not like to talk while he drives.

So, I am a convert, at least in part.  I prefer to consider myself a hybrid. Books are precious and wonderous things, but when I look at it realistically, I do not consider myself less of a voracious reader because I do not turn pages physically.

In the end, words are words, whether they are printed on a page, or pixels on my tablet. It is the experience of absorbing someone else’s world that makes me happy. I regret feeling elitist because I read real books.  Are pixels any less real than printed books?

I do not think so.  Not anymore.