The Rewards of Reading

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What have you been reading lately? As a writer, this is a very important question. You need to be feeding your mind lots of good stuff to prime that creative pump. Another question you should think about is are you a wide reader?

In a gathering, you can tell who the wide readers are. Wide readers think and speak well. They win the admiration, respect, and good opinion of others. I’ve heard many writers give talks, and being a wide reader has been at the top their list of priorities.

Reading expands the mind. In fact, many people consider it as one of the satisfying pleasures of humans, for it involves physical as well as mental activities.

Reading is primarily a mental activity. After all, you read with your mind and use your imagination to paint the setting of the detective thriller you are reading. You use your mind to imagine the pain that the main character experiences as the story unfolds. You bring into play the different arguments and ideas brought up by the author in that self-help book you are holding.

Reading helps you develop a wide vocabulary — very important for writers. A skillful reader has a wide recognition vocabulary. He or she may not know exactly what every word means, but will have a good general idea of the meaning of the sentence.

Reading makes you alert and curious about new words. Readers often develop the dictionary habit. Every time they come across a strange word, they try to figure out what it means by the context. If they cannot do this, they refer to the dictionary.

Likewise, reading develops intellectual curiosity by exposing you to a variety of ideas. You learn to read by reading books of increasing difficulty and variety. As in other forms of activity, you learn by actually doing.

Reading trains you to have an active and open mind. Merely grasping the writer’s idea is not enough. You must make a positive response to what you read. Be an active, not a passive, reader. Develop the habit of drawing your own conclusions, the habit of active thinking, of agreeing or disagreeing with the author. Keep your mind open; understand and weigh the ideas that you read. A practical part of active reading is the drawing of conclusions. You might even consider keeping a readers journal, where you document your reactions to your reading material.

Allow me to share four basic rules for effective reading and better comprehension:

Try to read more and more. Remember the saying that practice makes perfect. Practicing in the correct way makes perfect.

Develop the habit of reading for main ideas. Look for the subject and predicate. Do not waste time on details or little words.

Learn to read with focus and concentration. Think of what you are reading. Do not let your attention wander somewhere else. (If you have ADD like me, this is often easier said than done, but give it the good college try anyway.) Good readers read with understanding.

Learn to budget your time. Experiment with your reading time. Try purposely to read faster. Give yourself a time limit on specific material that you read.

Reading is a stimulating mental activity. It expands your reality and capability. You have so much to gain in discovering the joys of reading. Go ahead; grab a book right now!