Boost Your Writing Skill by Reading Good Books

Monday, April 27, 2009

Another investment that benefits in boosting up your writing ability fast is reading. No matter what books you read, reading is certainly a good way to improve your writing skill.

If could be hard to start, especially for a non-native English speaker like me. You have to read slowly to understand each line in the papers. Obviously, it needs passion, perseverance, along with enough motivation to go through this.

For a small step, perhaps you can start by reading books that interest you. It can be fiction or non-fiction category. If you can afford it, buy it. If you can’t, just visit public libraries spreading out in your town. This is the best alternative for this situation.

Remember, whatever book you choose, make sure you read it carefully. Try to understand general meaning of each sentence, and try to catch the core idea while you read. Don’t get stuck and confused by some words you don’t understand. Try to catch the general meaning first, and then do the rest; find out the meaning of new words in a dictionary.

Reading is one of phases in mastering a foreign language (other phases are speaking and writing) and it can be pain-in-the neck for while to learn. But, as time goes, you will be able to read clearly, and enjoy the reading. And when you come to that point, I think you already have done a primary investment on your writing ability.

How much time do I spend for reading?
Read as much as you can. Off course, the condition is not same for everyone and every situation. At least, try to read few pages a day. It is better to read few pages a day regularly, than read many pages in a day, and then read nothing for a week. I am sure you get my point.

Get a pen and sticky-notes
Jot down all new word you don’t know. Mark pages that contain new word using sticky-notes. Soon after you finish a chapter or an article, take a look the note you’ve made, and start finding the meaning of new words.

Don’t be too Picky
Read all kind of book, magazines, articles, even comics with various topics and or stories. Read those that interest you and those that don’t. Don’t be too picky. By accustomed reading a wide range of topic, you’ll learn many styles of writing, phrases and words that you never heard before.

Summarize What You Have Read
You can rewrite books or articles you’ve just read in your way. It can be a short note, opinion, thought or just review. Don’t take it so hard. Just consider it as a simple exercise of writing. You will get amazed to see how fast you make improvement in your writing skill. In fact, this exercise also benefits in increasing your memorizing ability right?

Well, that’s all my tips. This way still works for me up till now. What about you?