In his article “How to Read Like a Writer” by Mike Bunn he purported that “You are already and Author.” I think this means that he believes we as college students are already authors form example the piece of writing we do in our intensive writing classes, or our English and Public Speaking classes. We write to express ourselves, to make notes, for projects and essays, we are all writers. These skills and techniques we have acquired and harnessed throughout educational careers and a class like the English Composition class will equip us with even more tools to widen our abilities as authors to master the art of reading and writing for our college careers.

 

In Bunn’s essay he attempts to further develop the students’ reading skills by educating us on what it will take to read like a writer. What exactly does it mean to read like a writer? According to Bunn when you read like a writer you will be able to identify some of the choices the author made, and you may even be able to apply some of these choices to your writing to enhance it. In addition, you are trying to figure out how the text was constructed so you can apply these new skills when you are constructing your own. After you have considered all the writer choices large, as the overall structure or as small as the phrases or words used, then you can go further and think of different choices the writer could have made and how those choices could have a dramatic effect on the article.

 

Some of the main takeaways for me from the article was the to ask yourself questions while reading to help yourself understand at a deeper level what the author is trying to deliver to his audience. A few of the questions that Bunn mentioned you should always ask yourself are:

1.    Do you know the author’s purpose for this piece of writing?

2.    Do you know who the intended audience is for this piece of writing?

3.    If I was the author, where would I carry the story instead?

4.    Compare my prediction for the story and the author’s actual outcome. Ask myself why the outcomes are different?