Reading to improve language skills? 🅱 🅸 🅾 🅶

Focus on fiction, not non-fiction

We all know that reading is good for children and for adults and that we should all be reading more often. Reading to improve language skills? One of the most obvious benefits of reading is that it helps improve language skills.

A major review of research on leisure reading confirmed that reading does indeed foster better verbal abilities, from preschoolers all the way to university students. But, does it matter what we read?

Fiction books are mostly narrative writings while what we write here online is a completely different format. Most articles are meant to be short posts, so I thought, “there’s no way fiction is going to help me in my journey of writing online.”

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And then months later, after I said that, I was slapped in the face mentally.

Writing IS about stories

“I think a story behind a product makes a product that much better.” — Kevin Hart, 2022.

After speaking to other authors in the community, many top writers always said that the story is very important to the article. Otherwise, no one would even bother to read it and would take it as if it’s something repetitive taken from another website.

“Well shoot,” I thought, “That hit home.”

It was like I forgot WHY I even wrote something.

Sure, I did one after finding a spark to write, but there are times I forgot to write a story about it and went straight to the information like a textbook.

So, I decided to try and make articles in story formats. But the first thing I question was how do I do that?

Fiction authors are your “local” storytellers on your shelves

Unlike self-help articles, like the one you are reading now, fiction authors look like those people who went on an adventure in their heads and decided to tell everyone.

And when they do, most of the pages they wrote managed to keep us engaged until the end of the book.

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I didn’t realize this until some author pointed out how stories are important in articles. And where else do you know how to write a great story than the great fiction authors?

So, I picked up a couple more fiction books and began reading a lot more than I should.

There are a few things I learned when reading fiction and how it helped me to write my articles online:

Fiction stories are packed with fancy words:

It’s not usually common to see fancy big words used in articles like this, self-help, or even textbooks. And I don’t think it’s recommended when writing online too when the goal is to have people understand your writing.

However, fiction authors are what I call the walking synonyms so that they are not stuck using the same words.

Reading fiction made me understand a lot more vocabulary and synonyms than I realized. It has definitely helped me to avoid being repetitive.

The blog post was written by Colleen Foy, Wanek Center Librarian, Health Sciences Liaison, and unofficial sponsor for reading in your spare time 

Do you ever feel guilty for time spent reading an unputdownable thriller when you know you have coursework waiting? Do you find yourself thinking, “I wish I had time to read those NY Times Bestsellers; I can’t possibly fit it in with everything else I have to do!”? If so, I’m here to reassure you to enjoy that leisure reading time and, furthermore, to prioritize it.

Research shows reading in general, but also specifically fiction titles support you personally and professionally. Read on to learn why and how!

IQ or EQ? You may be surprised at what employers are looking for.

It’s valid to assume IQ alone does not represent an individual’s overall ability to complete a task. However, did you know that employers are strategically expanding recruitment and retainment procedures to include a holistic view of their workforce talent by involving EQ or Emotional Quotient / Intelligence as well?

This ability to understand, use, and manage emotions affords us the opportunity to seek and develop positive ways to manage stress, expand communication techniques, and empathize with others.