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“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time — or the tools — to write. Simple as that.” — Stephen King
There’s a plethora of writing advice that tells us to read, read, and read. We need to read a lot to make us better readers. But I thought about it the other way around — does writing make you a better reader?
I consider myself more of a writer than a reader, and I fervently believe that being a writer makes me a better reader. I know what it’s like for people when they publish personal, difficult pieces. I know the experience of what the writer was probably feeling when he or she wrote the book.
As a writer, I can empathize with other writers more. I am not a writer by trade, but by condition. As a writer, I wonder what went into the mind, process, and time that went into an author’s article. Currently, I’m reading Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and relating my writing about teaching and pedagogy to my own writings about the same.
When I was younger, I struggled with reading comprehension. A lot. Until middle school, I was behind grade level in reading, and only persevered by going through the motions. I remember when my mom forced me to read and how much I hated…
