Development as a Reader and Writer over time

Becoming a reader or writer does not happen overnight. It is rather a progressive journey that is fueled by a number of reading and writing experiences that aid development from the rudimentary level into the expert point. Though I may not pass as an expert, I take great pride in my present writing and reading skills. They are not only proficient for the present major in college and general scholarly level but also suitable for transferability in my future career and advanced education. I have developed reading skills such as skimming and reflection which are applicable in the highest levels of education, dealing with more complex texts and carrying out thematic and textual analyses. In addition, my writing portfolio now consists of a complex mix of professional, formal and informal writing, adapting according to audiences and purpose. I am able to address different writing contexts with the appropriate diction, tone and formatting. I have also, with time, distinguished and appreciated the role of prewriting and pre-reading in excelling in both writing and reading exercises. This is besides developing a great sense of attention when reading and writing for long periods, something I really struggled with in the beginning. While these skills appear concrete and self –contained, they are in reality the product of a number of experiences within and outside the classroom. In this paper, I reflect on my development as a reader and writer across time. The input of peer review, reflective exercises and beyond classroom reading and writing are what propelled me to the level of reading and writing showcased today.

Peer review was one of the fundamental building blocks of my writing and reading journey. At the beginning of the writing process, there were several things to learn and therefore mistakes were quite common.  Sometimes my sentences were too long, unclear or lacking in purpose which made my work too wordy. This was remedied by peer review, where classmates went through my work and pointed out areas of improvement. Peer review is advantageous in many fronts. First, you are corrected by a colleague, who could be a friend or acquaintance and thus understands you better. Such people are in a position to frame the corrections in a way you can easily relate to. I always improved a great deal from the corrections and guidance of classmates who reviewed my work. Though they knew far from everything, the little they offered was ironclad in memory with some elements of humor and unofficial engagement helping to create mental cues that ensured remembrance of what was learnt. I remember one of my friends correcting my run-on sentences by jokingly quipping that such wrongful language use was the reason I wasn’t dating. The joke reminds me to date what run-on sentences are and how to avoid them. By also reviewing the work of others, I also improved my reading and writing to a great extent.  I was able to notice the different approaches others were taking to the same type of work, their sentence variety and our variation in terms of strengths and weaknesses. This enriched my language usage and gave me additional ways of framing my sentences while avoiding the common mistakes I was noticing in the works I reviewed. Therefore, peer review was a significant activity at the formative stage of my reading and writing. The numerous experiences were capped with the urge to do better in order to be in a better position to carry out a peer review. I understood that without some level of knowledge and proficiency, it would be difficult to carry out a meaningful review of other people’s work.

Reflective reading and writing also played a huge role in my language development. We were required to read several texts while reflecting on themes, the author’s purpose and how the material engages with our personal experiences which helped in becoming a better reader. Beforehand, it was possible to read material and forget all its contents within a short time and fail to gain any lessons from the activity. However, with reflective reading, I was able to gain knowledge from every text that was encountered. The themes, the unique ways in which the author used language and their connection to good writing principles were all noted through reflective practice for application at a personal level. Reflecting practices also helped in the writing process as it offered a platform for self-evaluation with respect to strengths and weaknesses. While many fault to ability to assess oneself, it is possible to do so in writing activities using various reflection models such as Gibbs’. Applying such models of reflection helped me to understand the various areas of strength while recollecting the entire writing process. It is notable that through self-reflection, reading and writing can be assessed from a pristine perspective devoid of any biases or complexity. One looks at their experience and personally appreciates their weaknesses, areas of fault while also celebrating major gains. I must admit that it is through reflection that I was able to move from being a beginner to an average writer on the way to the top. My writing was more focused and less erratic due to the critical input of self reflection.

Also significant was the input of additional reading and writing. As an enthusiast of Shakespeare’s tragicomedies such as the tragedy of Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet, I spent my residual time going through such texts and reflecting on their themes and styles. They played a huge role in enhancing my writing abilities, offering additional knowledge and insight on top of the classroom learning. I doubled up some of the readings such as Romeo and Juliet with watching their attendant films, buttressing language use both in writing and speech. I also learnt how language is adapted for different audiences at this point. There were glaring differences between the original text and the filmed version which was adapted for television. My additional reading also entailed blogposts and social media posts which acquainted me to extended differences in language use depending on the audience. The language used in digital media was also demonstrative of the differences between official and unofficial writing. This was a major distinction to make, given that there is plenty of functional writing to come later in my career. I have since understood the differences in terms of choice of words, use of short forms and formatting that often comes with formal writing. Additional writing and reading also drew my attention towards academic writing and its unique conventions. I encountered peer reviewed articles from reputed journals and took note of their structure, use of language and methodologies of research that made such kind of writing stand out from others. Concepts such as attributing sources were encountered in these additional reading activities. In terms of writing, peer reviewed articles demonstrated how vocabulary is used in formal academic contexts among other things. I therefore credit lots of my advanced writing and reading skills to the various experiences of additional reading and writing.

Therefore, writing and reading effectively does not come up as a one off realization but takes time and effort to build. My journey demonstrates that several experiences sequentially improve reading and writing ability from amateur to expert level. Though teachers play an important role in equipping us with lots of reading and writing skills, anyone aspiring to become a good reader or writer must realize that the bulk of the work lies on their personal initiative and willingness to learn. Notably, peer review, reflective activities and additional reading and writing which were all featured in this paper as prime contributors to my development require a huge element of personal effort. In peer review, I had to develop my abilities to a level in which I could review other people’s work, besides allowing others to correct me. Within reflection, I had to be self-critical and appreciate my weaknesses while celebrating the areas of strength. These activities all embody personal conviction and desire for change which cannot be imparted by external parties. In addition, additional reading and writing calls for a personal effort to go beyond what is given in the classroom. Therefore, my reading and writing journey entailed using the core lessons in class to generate more interest and efforts towards improvement.