How to Read Like a Writer

Mar 31

I’d like to tell you about the best lesson I ever planned in my short career as a ninth grade English teacher.

I projected a photograph of an old woman up on the screen, and gave my students one sentence of direction: “Write a paragraph describing her.”

We were studying narrative writing at the time and one of the standards I needed to assess them on was their mastery of descriptive language. They needed to use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, setting, and characters.

I purposely didn’t give them any instruction though. I wanted to establish a baseline, and their baseline paragraphs were…lacking.

Most of them sounded something like this: She is old. She has wrinkles. Her scarf is red. Her hair is white. She is outside.

This gave me something to work with. (Something is always better than nothing, yes?)

Next, I gave them a sheet of paper with a bunch of descriptive paragraphs I had compiled from some of my favorite books. We read the first time Harry Potter sees Albus Dumbledore’s half-moon spectacles. We read the paragraph where Hazel Grace Lancaster first lays eyes on Augustus Waters. We read one of my favorite scenes of any book: when Scout Finch meets Boo Radley and describes his timid smile.

I asked the students to pay attention to the word choice and the sentence structure in each excerpt. We considered the details the authors chose to include as well as the details they left out. We noted our favorite sentences and what helped us picture each scene most clearly. And then, I sent them back to the paragraphs they wrote to start class with all those new observations.

“Now, make your writing better,” I told them.

And they did. Those re-written paragraphs blew me away. “She has wrinkles” turned into “The lines on her face tell a story of everywhere she has been.” They gave her a back story and considered her life experiences. They varied the length of their sentences and included dialogue. I pulled the new paragraphs out during conferences and made one mom cry because she didn’t realize her son could write so beautifully.

“How do you become a better writer?” I would ask all those students in the weeks that followed.

“Read good writing,” they would say in return.

I’ve gone back to that day many times in my own writing life. When I’m frustrated because I can’t get an ending just right or the structure isn’t working out the way I want it to, I sometimes ask myself that same question.

How can you become a better writer?

Read good writing, I’ll think.

And then I’ll take a break and take my own advice.

I’ll pull out a book or a few essays, and I’ll read them like a writer.

If I’m struggling with my conclusion, I’ll open up a few essays and analyze the way each author chose to end. If I’m struggling to describe a scene, I’ll read through a few more essays and pay attention to the strength of the included details. Sometimes I’ll read pieces and just pay attention to the transitions. Other times I’ll think through how the writer subtly conveys the theme. If I’m stuck on an opening, I’ll only read the first three sentences of five different essays.

I give myself a focal point is what I’m trying to say. When I read like a writer, I look closely at one specific thing, and then I repeat as needed.

So that’s your creative assignment for today.

Below is a list of a few of my all-time favorite essays—pieces I find myself going back to again and again, so I can learn from their strengths and challenge my own writing to improve.

Choose a few of them and pick one thing to look carefully at:

The choice and strength of the first line.
The details included in any given scene.
The sentence structure and the way short sentences, long sentences, and single lines work together to create movement.
The way the theme is revealed throughout.
The use of dialogue vs. narration.
The pacing and momentum of the piece.
The choice and strength of the last line.

Make observations. Note strengths. Then take all those thoughts back to your own drafts.

It will make your writing better; I promise.

A Non-Exhaustive List of Mentor Essays: