“How to read like a writer” can be a very important tool to college students when it comes to reading and writing. Writing isn’t everyone’s forte, but it is something we all need to improve on as students. It the text on page 75, Bunn says a line that not everyone will understand, “You are already an author.” When Bunn says “You are already an author,” he doesn’t mean we write books for a living or anything along those lines. To him, being an author means we write, in any form. It may not be any literary works, but we are writers. Things like texting or typing are forms of writing. Even verbal communication could count as some sort of writing, even if it’s not physical. Anytime we use words, we are technically writing. Since this is something we already do, improving upon it is something beneficial to everyone. That is why Bunn wants us to learn how to read like a writer, because doing so will improve all types of writing that we do. College consists of reading and writing, and improving it will make us stronger students.
When I read, I don’t really focus a lot on the words. It’s like I read the words half-heartedly so I can just take away the jist of it. It maybe a long process of getting used to, but something I do want to try is reading each word one by one. It sounds strange, because it is something we already do when we read, but I never really focus on the word itself when I read it, I just focus on the sentence. In reading every word, I can try and grasp why the author used this word instead of another, or how that word impacts the bigger picture. These are things that could be of great use to improving my reading and writing skills. Even just rereading a sentence once or twice could make me see it a different way each time. These choices are choices I should learn to make when writing.
Excellent response, Obed.