Good Books are Good Teachers

Last week, the reading that I was doing for my dissertation reminded me of a book that I had read many, many years ago – Tuck Everlasting. In the midst trying to make it through difficult articles and theories that I am learning about and questioning, I couldn’t get it out of my head, so, I picked it up. Within minutes I was hooked by Natalie Babbitts’ words. Let me share some with you:

The road that led to Treegap had been trod out long before by a herd of cows who were, to say the least, relaxed. It wandered along in curves and easy angles, swayed off and up in a pleasant tangent to the top of a small hill, ambled down again between fringes of bee-hung clover, and then cut sidewise across a meadow. Here its edges blurred. It widened and seemed to pause, suggesting tranquil bovine picnics: slow chewing and thoughtful contemplation of the infinite. And then it went on again and came at last to the wood. But on reaching the shadows of the first trees, it veered sharply, swung out in a wide arc as if, for the first time, it had reason to think where it was going, and passed around. (p. 5)

When I read this passage I could see the road in front of me and could imagine cows from the past – could you? I was taken aback by how beautifully this book was written…a book that according to my sister, who is a reading specialist in an elementary school, usually intrigues the imaginations of fifth graders.

You may be wondering why I am sharing all of this with you. The reason is, I learned two very important things from this experience – both of which I think will help me with my writing (and I hope will help with yours!).

1. Don’t be afraid to read something different from what you usually do.

At first, I must admit, I felt a little silly walking into the children’s section of the bookstore to buy something for myself. As you can see, however, I am so happy that I did! It taught me how important it is to read things (at least every once in a while) that are different from my usual. Different can mean it is easier than usual or more difficult, or from a different genre or field of study – just different. You never know what you can learn from the pages of a book you never expected to read. And, a break from the norm may encourage you to be more open to the experience.

2. Good books can be models.

Reading a description that was so clear and felt so real made me consider how I write descriptively in my own work. Furthermore, it made me think about how a piece of writing can be a good model. Now, in no way I am saying to copy someone else’s work, but what you can do is learn a lot from authors…how they create sentences, how they put paragraphs together. More concretely, if you are reading something in your discipline, then how a book (or an article) is organized may be evidence of what is expected in the field, and you can learn how your own work should be organized.

So, go enjoy your writing – and your READING! Leave a comment if you have any questions…and please share any of your own suggestions that you think will also help us with our work!