Some Advice on Reading


Many students have asked me, "How can reading help my writing?"

Good question!

How can reading help your writing?

Well, let's stop and think about it.

And let's think about another question, too.

How does listening help your speaking?

What does your speech sound like?  Does your speech in your home language sound like your mother, your father, your neighbors, your townspeople?  If you're like most people, it does. 

That's because we learn by observation and imitation.

In other words, we do what we see and hear and read other people do.

(We also learn by instruction which is why I've taken so many classes and why you're taking this class and we all listen so carefully to the wise people who can teach us about life and love and learning.)

(But back to our point about learning through observation and imitation.)

We know this is true by experience.  For better or for worse, people often behave like the people around them, particularly the people around them when they are growing up.  They parent like their parents, act like their friends, and sometimes even look like their pets!  (:-))

How can we apply this truth to the issue of reading and writing?

By paying attention to what we read.

People who read a lot often don't have to think as much about the "rules" of writing.  They develop a feel for what is "right" and "wrong" in writing by reading, reading, reading.  Certain patterns feel "natural" to them because they have seen them over and over and over.

When we read with consciousness we speed up this process.

Here's how to do it.

Pick something you want to improve on in your own writing.

You could pick introductions, for example, or how to describe things.

Every time you read something, notice how the writer handles this point. 
Notice, notice, notice!

Soon you'll be handling this point the same way the writer does.  (So make sure you read good writers!)

You can do the same thing with forms of writing.

Do you want to write great cover letters?  Look through a book on cover letters and notice, notice, notice how they're written.

As sure as how the way you talk reveals where you're from and the people you've been around, your own cover letters will resemble the ones you've read and studied.

Attention is a magic potion that speeds up learning.  Use yours to improve your writing or anything else you think needs fixing!

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