Genre conversion of Mike Bunn’s How to Read Like a Writer into a blog post for Writing Two with Chris Nofziger

Good question, @anonymous

Reading like a writer is when you observe the steps that an author takes in his or her writing and understanding why these choices were made.

You may ask what is the importance of reading like a writer, then?

Well, the point is that you should be identifying the writing choices made by authors and then reimagining how you would change the writing choices.

When you are reading like a writer, here are some steps you should consider.

Identifying choices author makes

Understanding why these choices occur in your own writing

Examining what you are reading

Looking at writing techniques to see if you want to use these techniques as your own

We hope this helps you understand how to read like a writer better. Good luck!

Writing 1 with Dr. Josh Mehler

Writing Prototype #5: Blog

You are standing on a cliff overlooking a beautiful ocean. The temperature is very warm, but the cool ocean breeze helps you cool down. In the distance, you can hear the soothing sound of the bells chiming within Storke tower. 

(Campus Point by Tony Mastres. Picture taken from: http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2015/015450/ucsb-places-among-top-10-leiden-ranking-750-major-universities-worldwide)

This beautiful, serene place you are at is the University of California, Santa Barabara. U.S. News and World Report’s 2015 “Best Collages” guide ranks the University of California, Santa Barbara, otherwise known as UCSB, as tenth in the U.S. among public universities. Not surprisingly, many UCSB students are satisfied with their college life and they enjoy the friendly atmosphere of the students on campus. However, although many students enjoy attending UCSB, several students dislike certain aspects of the beautiful campus.

In order to research what students disliked about UCSB, I conducted a survey to ask them what they disliked about their school. Once the results showed up, I noticed that several students stated that they did not like the dining commons at the University of California, Santa Barbara. While conducing the survey, I determined that out of all the other things that I disliked about UCSB, that the dining commons was my least favorite as well.

Recently, my roommate’s friend, Rachel, who goes to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, came to visit so we all talked about our colleges and the differences between them. During our conversation, Rachel mentioned that at Virginia Tech, they use flex money rather than swipes per week. She also mentioned that the flex money that did didn’t use the previous semester, would transfer to the next semester.

Because I had a low meal plan, and because I would always run short on meals each week, I preferred this dining common system rather than the one here at UCSB.

Another thing that Rachel said, that caught my attention, was that she said she was allowed to pay for her friends when entering the dinning commons. This would be very convenient for students who are forget their access cards, like myself.

Although I do enjoy parts of our dining commons like the ice cream bar

I also believe that many adjustments could be made to help make the dining commons system better for students.