The digital age and Internet provides tons of information for people all over the world. To process this information, reading is still a necessary skill to possess since there is plenty of text to sift through every day. People who want to be writers need to read for their chosen art.
Reading is an important part of a writer’s skills set. From reading various things, a writer gains ideas, knowledge and inspiration for their endeavors. Also, reading is a major component of research for projects. Therefore, it is necessary for a writer to keep a reading journal for many reasons. Keeping a reading journal is helpful for writers on two levels. First, a journal helps improve a writer’s craft through analyzing and study of other author’s works. Next, writers need to be readers in order to keep filling the creative well. A journal helps the reader to remember books, how they affected them and to keep information for possible later use. A journal is helpful for research where notes can be stores to be used in a book or story.
Where does a person start? It is easy. You can use a bound fancy journal, notebook or keep a file with entries on a computer. You can find nice journal at http://gonereading.com I like this journal for my fiction reading (http://www.sfbc.com/book-lovers-journal.html) because it’s small and compact. I use a notebook for nonfiction.
Information you will want in your journals in case you don’t use a ty0pe of journal like above follow.
Things to include for fiction:
- Date read, title, author, genre, etc.
- Quotes with page numbers
- Take notes while reading.
- Record what the author did like point of view, etc.
- Thought on how book affected you.
Things to include for nonfiction:
- Bibliographical information
- Synopsis of book or article
- Quotes and notes
- Personal thoughts on information
Some other articles to check out:
-http://www.joelgoldman.com/keep-reading-journal/
-http://kaizenreading.com/how-to-keep-a-reading-journal/
-http://kaizenreading.com/9-reasons-to-keep-a-reading-journal/
Reading journals for fiction and nonfiction are important for writers to keep. Journals can help with creativity, research for writing projects, provide ideas and improve a writer’s skills. Reading is an important part of being a writer. With so much information in the world available, keeping track of the information in a journal is helpful. Happy journal writing. May it help your writing.
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