I was one of those freaks in elementary school who would get a worksheet, try to read the directions, but merely stare at them like they were written in Greek. You can imagine how I fared with standardized testing... not to mention the ACT.It wasn't until college that I began to notice the magic of reading out loud. I used to pace in my room, chanting my studies, finally discovering the empowerment of comprehension. Who knew? I wasn't an idiot, after all.
That's probably why my dad has commented that he enjoys listening to me play the piano (brace yourselves, annoying brag alert!) because he can tell I listen while I play. According to him, many musicians fail to listen to the effects of their delivery--but are only concerned with accomplishing their mighty chore.
I'm reading How to Grow a Novel by Sol Stein. He teaches writers need to be courteous--to think of their reader while writing. He asserts many writers fail in this task, and are mostly bent on getting the words out, of alleviating their burden.
So, I suppose, that my goal is to use this odd gift (or impairment!) of auditory learning and write so that the reader enjoys what he hears--within his own mind. I believe in the musicality of writing... but that's another topic altogether. And I could compound this post even more by asserting I'm also a kinesthetic learner. What do you get when you cross auditory with kinesthetic? An overzealous spectacle who likes to enact everything she learns...
And now to you. How do you learn? And how does it affect your reading? Your writing? But beware. If you admit you're a visual learner, I might pull a Sylar from Heroes and pillage your mighty gift. It'd make learning a heck of a lot easier for me. AND my husband wouldn't make fun of me for conversing alone.
In my writers group we read chapters aloud to each other and I am amazed at the mistakes I catch that I had glazed over even a half dozen times previous.
ReplyDeleteI am a reader and I love books, as much as I use the internet I am still convinced that 99% of what I learn is from my personal ever-expanding library.
I notice this a lot when I'm critiquing other writers. I often tell them, "You're leaving your reader winded. Give him a chance to breathe." Or, "Don't make your reader scratch his head and read this passage three times. He doesn't want to have to concentrate on what he's reading. He wants to inhale the words like breath."
ReplyDeleteEasy to say to other people. It is really hard to catch the flaws in my own writing. I know how it's supposed to read and I read it easily. I could not get by w/out a critique group. After they point out to me how something sounds to them, I can't help but read it and notice how stuffy/boring/awkward it sounds.
Excellent question. I learn by reading, by hearing, and by seeing. And luckily, I have a killer memory (weakening as my tiny child grows older..LOL) But what I also find interesting is that I read to tummy when pregnant and played music on headphones every day. Our child knew over 80 words at 18 months and was speaking in 5 to 6 word sentences at 2? I think we can learn so much from being exposed to spoken language.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I will look up any word or reference that I dont know when I read. Some people skip it, I feel like its a chance to grow.
I am so auditorially impaired that music bothers me! I am an incredibly strong visual learner. In school, I read during lectures, since the talking made no sense, then went home and read the lecture chapters. However, in my writing, I "listen" to the words when revising. It has to sound right in my head or I change it.
ReplyDeleteAnd where is everyone finding all these writers groups??!! I've been looking for ages and nothing seems to come together. My daughter and I even tried starting one ourselves, and although we had 3-6 interested parties, no one ever showed up, so we gave up. I tried the online thing and that didn't work either.
ReplyDeleteKaren--
ReplyDeleteI never had any luck in the real world either. Tried in several different states.
However, I've found a fantastic one online. I actually moderate two review/critique forums on writing.com. check it out if you want: http://www.writing.com/main/handler/item_id/1468165
and
http://www.writing.com/main/handler/item_id/1568896
you have to have a membership but the membership is free. I would die w/out these groups! I learned so much and the reviews are invaluable!
(there's also a ton of other stuff on writing.com, but I mostly just hang out here.)
I'm glad you posted those links, Tamara. I'll have to check them out. Between that and WiDo's editing, I'm sure I'll be completely broken.
ReplyDeleteKaren, I'm so jealous of your visual learning. I LOVE books (obviously) but often feel so retarded. I'm such a SLOW reader, because I need to hear each word in my head (or out loud!!).
JennyMac, I checked out your blog. It's so amazing!! Thanks for stopping by!
David, Sol Stein wrote about reading his work out loud like you do in your groups. Only his teacher would take his material and read it as monotone as physically possible--like he was reading phone numbers out of the yellow pages. The teacher said he did this because the words should speak for themselves and no type of acting should be the reason for the words to come alive. He said the words written should be interesting to even the worst reader. I liked hearing that because I over-dramatize everything and realized he's right: the words need to speak for themselves.
ooohh, good, thanks for the tips, I'll check out writing.com. Maybe we will all run into each other there!
ReplyDeleteI remember you reading out loud a lot when we were roommates. And one thing i remember too is how you read the scriptures out loud, it made them easier to understand. I love that about you! You were such a thespian! lol. :-)I love it!
ReplyDeleteAnd there is definitely a pleasant musicality to your writing (referring to your blog--as I haven't read any stories you've written...yet). You have such a talent! (Are you tired of me saying that?) :-)