Since it’s October, I figured there would be few better people to provide the monthly homepage quote than the chief of chills, Stephen King. I love this quote because of its relevance for not only fiction writing, for which King is one of the most prolific and successful authors in history, but its applicability to non-fiction, academic writing as well.
In my freshman composition courses, during the first few days of every semester, I ask my students to tell me the last non-fiction book they read (that was not assigned or school-related). Much to my dismay, few can remember, or they tell me they don’t read non-fiction, or worse yet, they don’t read much of anything at all. But this gives me an opportunity to talk to them about the vital connection between reading and writing.
The most important quality for becoming a good writer is to be a good reader. We can understand how this works in fiction: creativity is expanded, voice is developed, styles and genres are refined, etc. But important skills emerge when reading non-fiction as well. When reading non-fiction, vocabulary is learned and adapted, argumentation and critical thinking become more nuanced, the machinations of sentence and paragraph structure are put into practice. Through non-fiction reading we are better able to see the evolution of ideas on the page and how research, sources, and evidence are used to support important points. We become participants in the discussions of the world by learning new concepts and hearing new voices. We engage with ourselves and discover elements of who we are as people and what we want to believe.
And the more we read these works—these articles and essays and books by mostly unknown authors—the more our brain learns to write as they are written.
Reading gives us the tools we need to express ourselves. So if you’re a student, push yourself to venture into the dark parts of the library and find a topic to explore. If you’re a teacher, encourage your students to follow those models, learn from those voices, borrow those methods. The world needs more good writers. But first, we have to be good readers.
In my freshman composition courses, during the first few days of every semester, I ask my students to tell me the last non-fiction book they read (that was not assigned or school-related). Much to my dismay, few can remember, or they tell me they don’t read non-fiction, or worse yet, they don’t read much of anything at all. But this gives me an opportunity to talk to them about the vital connection between reading and writing.
The most important quality for becoming a good writer is to be a good reader. We can understand how this works in fiction: creativity is expanded, voice is developed, styles and genres are refined, etc. But important skills emerge when reading non-fiction as well. When reading non-fiction, vocabulary is learned and adapted, argumentation and critical thinking become more nuanced, the machinations of sentence and paragraph structure are put into practice. Through non-fiction reading we are better able to see the evolution of ideas on the page and how research, sources, and evidence are used to support important points. We become participants in the discussions of the world by learning new concepts and hearing new voices. We engage with ourselves and discover elements of who we are as people and what we want to believe.
And the more we read these works—these articles and essays and books by mostly unknown authors—the more our brain learns to write as they are written.
Reading gives us the tools we need to express ourselves. So if you’re a student, push yourself to venture into the dark parts of the library and find a topic to explore. If you’re a teacher, encourage your students to follow those models, learn from those voices, borrow those methods. The world needs more good writers. But first, we have to be good readers.