Learning

This blogging everyday about reading is an exercise.  Often, I'm sure it will mostly be an exercise in frustration, but hopefully it will often be good for growth.  I want to grow as a writer and a communicator. 

I know that I am already okay at speaking and writing, but I'm not very good at organization of my thoughts and having a well thought-out plan, which is necessary for getting your points across.  It's easier to sort of make it up as you go along when speaking, as far as being able to find your train of thought and get things headed in the right direction.  At least, I think I can do it. 

So, I read and write a lot.  I don't know that I often stop and take notice when I'm reading something really well-written, because I think that I just get caught up in it, but I do notice sometimes.  I read an old essay by Garrison Keillor, who I normally cannot stand, and it was very very good.  It was funny and human and, for the first time ever, made me want to read one of his books.  Maybe I should, just to observe and try to figure out what I like about what he's doing.

I definitely notice bad writing, and I read a lot of bad writing being that I read romance novels and kids books for the most part when I'm not in school.  The book I'm about to finish, Seducing a Scottish Bride, is passable enough, but the writer has a few writerly tics that are quite noticeable and annoying.  The worst one is that the characters are constantly going, "No-o-o" or "O-o-oh!" in surprise or shock.  Seriously.  Always with the three syllables. 

I want to be aware of the crutches and tics that I rely on in my papers, in my teaching at church, and even in the fiction writing that I dabble in.  I want to clear them up, use different words, and write with clarity.  Then, for some of the those purposes, I still want to be funny.  And here, in my blog, I'll probably go back and forth between attempts at propriety and quality and just blurting out whatever I want because it's my blog, so there.