Prof. Baldassano, Eng. 1101 | D123 | Fall 2024

“How to Read Like a Writer” responses (9/3)

Post responses here as comments.

READ: “How to Read Like a Writer” by Mike Bunn

WRITE:  On the website, write a post of at least 300 words discussing the following questions. You can also post the picture of your notes from the reading in this same post: 

  • In his article, Mike Bunn writes “You are already an author.” He’s talking to you.  What do you think he means by this? What are some of the things you write already?  (Hint: “Nothing” is not an acceptable answer.) Think of all of the ways you already use words in your everyday life. That’s authorship! How will that existing expertise help you in your college reading and writing career?
  • Was there anything you noticed in Bunn’s article that you would like to try to do in your own writing? What, in particular? Please be specific!

3 Comments

  1. Wasee Farshid

    When Mike Bunn writes “You are already an author.” He refers to the fact that we all have experience in writing, whether it be essay writing or story writing, the author is just telling us that we already know how to write. Well as little kids, we would write little stories with pictures to try to entertain ourselves. Then when we move high up to late elementary and early middle school, you start doing paragraph writing and answering questions elegantly. Finally when you’re in late middle school and high school, you start to do a lot of essay writing, like argumentative essays for example. We use words to send messages to each other, create ideas, show feelings, get help, or pretty much anything that requires you to speak to get what you need. The existing experience already maps out where I am in terms of progress as a writer, so it can make it easier to find out where you are lackluster in and what you are excelling in. It helps give me a starter format for college as I wouldn’t have been able to write well if I didn’t have prior experience. These experiences are the building blocks to good writing and the required steps. Things I noticed in Bunn’s article that I would try to use would be his use of “breaking the 4th wall” and being able to quickly transition back to the 1st person point of view. I have not done something like that because I don’t think I can critically use that technique in the right scenario, so I want to see if I can do that with a bit of help. Another thing I noticed that Bunn used was his questioning in between paragraphs which has the reader having something to think about while they continue reading. I’m not good at asking the best questions at the best times, however this author did. So it amazes me to see how well he was able to just slip in a question in the middle, so I have to be able to do something like that to be a good writer.

  2. Danny Campoverde

    When Mike Buns writes, “You are already an author, “He means that we all have done some form of writing that makes us feel we know what we are doing writing-wise to either get our point across or to engage with someone. For example, whether it was an essay for school or something simple like texting and writing emails. We all have done these that fit the idea of Mike Buns because we use a writer’s format to write our emails, essays, and even our text messages. For example, we correctly pick our words in text messages to sound clear about what we are discussing. In writing an essay and emails, we choose words to make ourselves sound more intelligent and transparent to the reader. All of these formats have to do with writing. This existing expertise in writing will help me in my college writing and reading career because it is the start of where I am now as a writer, making it easier to find out where I need to improve and what my strengths would be. One thing I have noticed Bun’s do in his article is that he adds questions between his paragraphs, which would grab the reader’s attention and start asking themself the question to see if they could answer it. I wish to apply this to my writing because it will help grab the reader’s attention more, but also it would make my writing unique to where the type of question I ask has the reader thinking and questioning themself but also would have to depend on the kind of writing. Another thing I have noticed in Bun’s writing is the connection with real-world examples. I have used this technique before, but to fully adapt it casually into my writing, I would like to fully integrate it into my writing to make it more intriguing. 

  3. Tyrell

    What Mike Bunn Means when he writes “you are already an author” is that everyone has experiences writing in some form, whether it be through texting or something as simple as writing your name down on an assignment. What Mike Bunn is trying to get across is that you know what the intentions are behind that text you’re sending someone and you know the reason that you’re writing  your name down is to identify yourself to your professor. The same way you know how to make the intentions and reasonings behind your writing clearer is the same way you’ll be able to recognize the intentions and reasonings behind someone else’s writing. Just  by knowing the skill of writing you will properly be able to read a text and understand the foundation that its author laid for it.

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