The Big Picture

Honestly reading the first half of "how to read like a writer" got me feeling pretty overwhelmed.  Already when I sit down to read just about anything I get hit by a whirlwind of distractions.  Something to fiddle with, people rustling and talking amongst themselves in the coffee shop (I love to read in coffee shops), and my inner self who wants to get other things done, reminding me that I need to pick up more almond butter if I want to have it on my oatmeal tomorrow morning.  I think you get the picture.  The thought of having to read in a whole new way was quite terrifying.  

Not only should I ask questions to find out what the writer is saying but now I need to ask why they are saying it and how they could say it differently. 

As I continued reading and after my mini panic attack passed I started to understand the benefit to reading like a writer.  I realized that in small ways I do it already in ways like reading little cute and clever blog posts, emails from employers, or even a newsletter from an organization I'm interested in.  I take to heart how they write and try to incorporate it into the writing I do.  I look at what they did that I like and how they uniquely fit their writing together outside the box.  I try to fit those things into my own writing even if it's something as simple as the way that a reading is structured.  

Although it seems overwhelming I realized that we have been doing this even in class!  Looking at the recommendation request emails in class was exactly what this article talks about.  We read each of them and asked numerous questions about what they were writing and who they were writing to.  We looked at what we liked personally and what generally worked and then incorporated what we had learned into our own writing of a similar genre.  

I'm a big picture person, I like seeing how little pieces fit together to make the whole thing work.  This was encouraging particularly because the pieces are coming together for me how this whole writing thing works and getting a better understanding that what we are doing in class relates to real life.  

I hope you enjoyed reading this post at least half as much as I enjoyed writing it from the floor of a barns and noble, taking in every interesting distraction  that passed by.