How To Kickstart Your Creative Reading Habit

Intentional reading and note taking

Think Small

We all know how important reading is for our writing. Our bookshelves are plied high with novels that call out to us, yearning to be opened. But they are ignored, laying cold and gathering dust. Why? Well, such tomes, hundreds of pages in length, are daunting for the busy worker or caregiver like you and me. Who has time to read whole fiction books these days, anyway? Only the lucky few!

But what if I said there was a way to enjoy a whole story, and for it to not take up too much of your time? What if you could learn to read with intention and make quick, effective notes? And what if there was support every step of the way?

All of that does exist! That’s why I recommend embracing short stories to restore your reading habit. Indeed, a short reading burst can help you gain clarity on what makes a story work, and even elevate your own writing! Clearly, this won’t happen if we focus all our efforts on the big, bestsellers…

Read Smart

The crux of my advice, then, is not to read something long. But to read something more compact, such as short stories, essay reflections, even flash fiction or poems. Not because short is easy, or less complicated. But because the true essence of a story: the drama, the conflict, is often best understood, unpacked and put back together again, in its shortened version.

So the condensed text enables us to read through it with pace, but we still need to understand what makes a story memorable and enjoyable. By applying specific reading strategies, that is, by looking for certain elements within the text, we can learn the principles of a good story. Armed with this new knowledge your future creative reading - and writing - will be more focused and pleasurable.

Be Visual

In order to remember these elements, though, it’s important to do a little bit of writing alongside your reading, as in, make notes. You don’t need to write everything you read down, but noting key points will help you visualise the story and understand how it all connects together. Being visual helps us ‘see’ a large amount of information ‘in brief’, providing the mental space to process and interpret what we’ve read. Oh, maybe it’s starting to sound a bit complicated? Well, maybe you need some guidance…

That’s where I come in - passionate about designing meaningful online learning experiences - I have created something special that allows you to work on your own, with me virtually by your side, and the flexibility to manage your own study time.

Join my Creative Reading Mini-Course

Benefits: 

> Learn to read with purpose

> Make memorable notes

> Gain a deeper understanding of story structure

> Acquire tools to improve your own writing

Features:

> 5 tasks to help you develop your creative reading and visual note-taking skills

> 3 short videos introducing reading strategies

> 1 clear rubric for self-assessment

> 1 tracking sheet to keep you motivated

*Tasks will be delivered daily by email and take around an hour to complete - approx 5 hours. Of course, you can spend more or less time on them as you wish*

Dates:
Monday 16th November - Friday 21st November 2020

Price: $40

Bonus: 30 minute one-to-one session to review your progress for bookings made before 11:59pm on Sunday 15th November 2020. 

If this ticks your boxes and you can’t wait to get started, just click on the button below to book your place:

Any questions? Email shareyourstorywithconfidence@gmail.com, and I will get back to you as soon as I can. 

Looking forward to helping you kickstart your creative reading habit!

Photo by David Iskander on Unsplash