Reading & Writing

Alissa Wedderburn

Professor Dunn

English 112

September 10th 2018

        Reading and writing can be considered essential in everyone’s life, it plays a major role. Whether it’s writing a grocery list, reading nutritional facts, or organizing paperwork, it’s important that we have the ability to interpret what we are reading and/or writing. I have a neutral feeling about reading, it’s one of those things I can do without, but I know it’s still important. There are many pros and cons I have when it comes to both reading and writing, I’m almost completely sure that many people can agree on them.

        I’ll begin with the pros I have when it comes to reading and writing. I love how intriguing a reading can be, it’s like being completely lost in your own world. Depending on how engaged you are in it, you can basically visualize the story in your mind, so the details allow you to create a movie in your head. Reading is designed for your imagination, people can interpret someone’s looks differently, just to their liking. Personally, reading a variety of genres and authors affected my writing style.  It gave me a sense of direction when trying to catch a reader’s attention, and staying on topic. I’ve also learned so many interesting ways to get descriptive, just by describing a person features from their nails, lips and even smell. I knew that I would want the reader to feel what I’m feeling, and see what I see, so making that possible is key in writing.

        When it comes to writing, I get so amazed how self-expression can be in the form of writing. The way a person can get so descriptive and passionate about what their talking about. When someone has a way with words, it’s almost like falling in love with everything they say. There’s been many times I was reading a book and I would re-read a sentence over and over again. That one line would have some type of impact on me, and I would love it. I mainly read romances and half the time I felt like I was one of the characters, going through every emotion with them. I also believe writing depends on the type of reader you are. People can read with a different type of tone or simply have absolutely no interest in the writing at all. I give major acknowledgment to writing when it comes to communicating and making connections. Emails, text messages, poems, notes, essays, they all keep us united and interacted.

        Now it’s time to get into the cons, which I feel will be extremely relatable. I strongly dislike reading a monotonous piece that I have absolutely no interest in reading. When the reading is dull, I somehow drift off into deep thought but at the same time I’m still reading. I end up having no idea what I was reading and would eventually have to restart. I don’t like how difficult some readings are to understand., leaving me feeling unintelligent. Or having a huge exam and not even knowing what a reading is trying to say or mostly talking about. One of my major cons about reading would be when a story is getting so interesting, the anticipation begins to strangle my brain, so I begin unintentionally skipping lines to get to the point. This drives me crazy, I want to rush and find out what happens next, unlike in a movie you had no choice but to sit there and watch unless you fast-forward.     

        Writing can be difficult to those that don’t know how to begin, or how to brainstorm to know how their layout will be. Elaborating is something I think I have difficulty doing from time to time. I can state my opinion or thesis and not know how I’m going to go in depth with it. Writing can definitely get intimidating for me when it comes to being articulate. People can be extremely judgmental when it comes to that, using “higher level” words can change someone’s view completely on you as a writer. In a sense it proves that your diction is not limited and it makes you sound highly educated. Growing up my father always stressed to me how important it was to be articulate, and he always made sure I tried to expand my vocabulary.

        Despite having these dislikes, I make sure I’m able to incorporate reading and writing in my everyday life. I make sure that when I have to read I’m engaged and I’m able to interpret every word. I make improvements with my focus and my reading pace. When I’m writing I can take my time and jot down any thoughts that come to me. Brainstorming has been an effective strategy when writing, so I can make sure I remember all my ideas and what has the strongest points. I think it’s very important to always have a voice and opinion but you should still be able to know how to complete what is required of you. In this case, having to write about something when you aren’t interested in it, but still being able to write the best piece ever. This is when you know you’re a great writer, and have the ability to turn something you don’t like into greatness.

        Either way reading and writing is very effective, whether you want to believe it or not. It encourages self-expression, communication, articulation, and more. It can also cause a major a major headache, trying to decipher what your reading or where to start when writing. I’ve had many experiences reading, when I’ve cried because of how deep the writing was. Being able to carefully describe every detail in a situation is serious skill.  Being able to incorporate the setting, dialogue, physical features and even music is amazing. We can literally make up the scenes in our minds as we read. It’s all about perspective and what interests you as an individual. To sum up my favorite and least favorite things about both reading and writing, I love and hate how it can either break or make you. It can either help you, make improvements on you, or have absolutely no effect.