Reading has been my most enduring love affair. My concepts of a perfect holiday and retirement plan always revolve around reading.

I have been an avid reader since my childhood. My interest in reading has graduated from Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, and, Ayn Rand in my teen years to management, spirituality and psychology in my 40s. In between, I must have read about a hundred self-help books without them being of any real help to me. An analysis of the orders I have placed on Amazon from any period would reveal that majority of the orders have been for books. My collection of books can be described as a mini library and my ego swells every time I get the opportunity to show it to anyone. And yes, I can give you a brief description of the contents of almost every book you will find in my mini-library.

Even today, despite my tight schedules, I manage to read for at least 30 to 40 mins every day, and most of the times, it’s reading newspapers. I read the Business Standard every day to keep myself abreast of the business world. I especially look forward to reading their editorials and guest articles which give me insights into current issues.

After joining the content writing course, I have realized, to my utter disbelief, that although I have been an avid reader, I have not been a meticulous reader. I now realize that I was always keen on absorbing the information in the books than on the way the authors had presented it. While I do remember the contents of every book I have read, I am not able to recollect the writing style, tone, and delivery of the authors of these books.

To hon my writing skills, I will now have to shift from being an enthusiastic reader to a meticulous reader. I have to pay attention to the tone, style and delivery of the author. Every time I read, I have to appreciate the way the author has presented her ideas by constructing crisp and beautiful sentences. I will have to be on the lookout for new words and grasp their meanings. Becoming a good writer with limited vocabulary is just not possible. There are many frequently used words whose exact meaning I was not aware of earlier. Now, I access the Dictionary App frequently while reading. All this does make the reading experience a little sluggish but it’s also enriching non the less.

In our school, we always tell our students who are learning to read to read slowly, clearly and with understanding. I will be reading in the same way from now onwards 😊