Here is an interesting passage we discussed in my Bren School advanced writing course:<\/p>\n
From\u00a0Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them<\/em> (2006) by Francine Prose (http:\/\/www.brainpickings.org\/index.php\/2012\/08\/31\/how-to-read-like-a-writer\/):<\/p>\n \u201cWith so much reading ahead of you, the temptation might be to speed up. But in fact it\u2019s essential to slow down and read every word. Because one important thing that can be learned by reading slowly is the seemingly obvious but oddly underappreciated fact that language is the medium we use in much the same way a composer uses notes, the way a painter uses paint. . . . it\u2019s surprising how easily we lose sight of the fact that words are the raw material out of which literature is crafted.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery page was once a blank page, just as every word that appears on it now was not always there, but instead reflects the final result of countless large and small deliberations. All the elements of good writing depend on the writer\u2019s skill in choosing one word instead of another. And what grabs and keeps our interest has everything to do with those choices.\u201d<\/p>\n (You will find more ideas about writing and reading at\u00a0http:\/\/www.brainpickings.org.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here is an interesting passage we discussed in my Bren […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"yoast_head":"\n