reading

International Women’s Day is coming up on March 8th and the University of Waterloo’s Women Centre will be celebrating International Women’s Week starting March 5th. On Monday the 5th, read Kate’s blog post about books that feature compelling female protagonists!

This summer, the Writing and Communication Centre embarked on a campaign to promote reading for enjoyment. Often our lives get too busy to do things just for fun. It’s understandable. Life gets hectic and tasks pile up; however, it’s extremely important to take time for yourself just because you can. We need to make more time for enjoyment, and what’s a better time than summer? 

When people think of writing, they often immediately think of novels or of that report that they have been meaning to write.  However, writing can be so much more than that.

With the help of visuals, comics can express so much that words often cannot.  For example, take a look at the panel below.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Reading and writing as an escape

My favourite thing about reading and writing is the ability to get lost into a different world.  Sometimes life can get overwhelming with all the things that we have to do.  It is often hard to set aside time for reading or writing, but it can be really important to do so.  

When I say reading or writing, I don’t mean reading your textbook or writing your school paper.  I mean writing a poem, fiction story, or blog post.  I mean reading that novel you have been meaning to read, or that comic book that your friends keep mentioning.

It’s no coincidence that the best writers we know are also avid readers. When we read, we unconsciously pick up on the vocabulary, phrasing, structure, and flow in what’s being read. When we read lots, we’re essentially learning a wide repertoire of writing techniques which we internalize and later use in our own writing. So, an obvious logical step towards improving one’s writing is simply to read more.