There are numerous skills you need to be a good writer. Writing is a legitimate form of content that works on the concept of creating a world with the words.
It is an outcome that surfaces after you treat the raw material i.e., research data with reading skills, research skills, imaginative skills, wordplay, etc. these are the treatments that make a write up or a blog better. The most important skill that you need to possess in order to excel at writing is reading.
Think of writing as the outcome that you produce. You will need data that you can work upon and process to produce that outcome. Your reading phase is the best if not the only way you can acquire that data from. It’s true that you can’t pour from an empty cup. Your mind needs to have raw materials before it starts processing and proceeding in the direction of writing the data.
Specifically addressing content writing, the field needs you to be creative and have a bundle of knowledge that you can use to write content. Your reading skills are closely associated with your research skills. Those skills will hel[p you understand what type of content is in demand right now, what should be your keywords if you want to optimise your content and what is the user’s search intent. You need good reading skills in order to decide what will generate good results for your content.
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Table of Contents
What are Reading Skills?
Reading skills are the abilities to read in a better manner than the basics. Reading can be done easily but to do it skilfully is completely different.
Some of the parameters that transform reading into skilful reading are:
Decoding
There is a manner and a format in which blogs and articles are written which can be completely different from the manner you understand what you read. This is where you have to decode what you are reading into something that is easy enough for you to decipher.
If you are reading to acquire knowledge and write further, it becomes imperative for you to understand the data from your source, as your writing will be impacted by it. Facts and information are mainly acquired by reading from a source and you need to get them right. Writing is surely a way to express yourself through words but you have to be at least factually accurate. [ reading skills]
Fluency
Fluency in reading means being able to read out and pronounce words and sentences properly. There is a certain pronunciation of every word which should be taken care of while reading.
Fluency in reading will lead to a better flow of words and eventually thoughts in your brain which accelerates your reading process. Mispronunciation on the other hand will ensure inefficiency of the reading process and will affect what you write on the basis of it. Bad fluency makes the task of reading very tedious and frustrating because of the constant interruptions caused by it.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary is your library of words. The richer the vocabulary is, the better it will be for you to write. You come through a lot of new words when you read, each word has different meanings, connotations, and the emotions that come with it.
If you have a rich vocabulary, there will be endless possibilities of expressing yourself and that too in a manner that is acclaimed and well received.
Sentence Construction
Words make much more sense when they are put in a sentence. Sentence structure is a crucial skill that will allow you to create content at length. Bigger content can only be created if you link your words and make a sentence out of them. Sentences will form a paragraph which are another cohesive structure of words. These skills are needed while reading as well as writing.
Cohesion is important because you need to join your sentences in paragraphs and then into a strategically constructed writeup.
Reasoning
Your reasoning and questioning will count for good reading skills as it will help you do a detailed study of your topics. Outline information does not suffice to do good research and hence your writeup will lack depth and will be unable to provide in depth knowledge.
Attention Span
As you read, you store information in your brain that you will use later while writing. Working memory and attention span are crucial because they define your ability to process information that you have just acquired and its retention for further use. Otherwise, the only option left is to go back and forth to the source for fetching information.
Here are the 7 benefits of reading for a Content Writer | Reading skills
Improves and Develops Your Writing Skill
The top benefit of reading before writing is that it will provide you with enough ideas in the bank from where you can use it while writing. It improves your writing style and your writing skills as well. Reading the work of other writers will help you find your own unique style as you can freely choose what to imbibe from the source writeup.
Build your relationship with Words
You need to be comfortable working on and with words. It’s tricky business. In order to create and curate good writing, your relationship with words plays an important role. Your lack of knowl;edge regarding words, their meaning and their forms will affect the quality of the writing.
Introduces you to a world of new ideas
Reading is a fuel that will affect your writing as well as your world outside of it. Reading will open doors to a whole new world of ideas. The stories, the perspective and the words will take you to a different world, given how well you use your skills.
Improves Your Imagination Power
Reading as an exercise will strengthen your imagination. The ability to imagine the world that the words are painting is very important in order to actually understand what the writer is trying to convey. Creative thinking is only possible when your imagination skills are honed and you can unleash your potential to express your viewpoints and perspectives.
Enhances Your Knowledge
What you read is likely to stay in your mind for a long time, at least some pointers related to it. As a content writer you need to have pre existing knowledge about a lot of things on which your research will be based.
If you develop a habit of reading and dedicate time to it, you will see the results in no time. You will not need to research and work on every minute detail that is there. Constructing sentences will not be so difficult and you will need to put less effort into different writing processes. [Reading skills]
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READING STRATEGIES – An answer to how to improve Writing Skills.
There are several reading strategies that you can implement in order to get the best results out of content writing. Here are 7 strategies that can help you in greatly optimising your writing.
Activating
This strategy is about channelling cognitive outflow of information that you already have from before. You recall prior knowledge that is relevant to the topic and use it in a new and modified manner.
Inferring
The strategy talks about reading between the lines. It is all about what is overtly written and what is latent but still holds much importance. You need to construct meaning from what the content is trying to say without actually saying it.
Monitoring
Monitoring the key takeaways from the content that you have just read in order to avoid any mix ups and ambiguity. It is the stage where you monitor how well your mind receives the content and treat it in a manner that it can be used while the act of writing.
Questioning
If you do not have questions about what you read, there are chances that it might have not been able to decipher the information. In order to have a uniqueness in the content you need to raise questions about it, to which you will search answers and prepare the structure from your own perspective.
Summarizing
Revising and shaping the content in your own manner which is different from everyone else’s will make sure your data is unique. It will also help you club your content in a manner that will be easy for you for future reference.
Visualizing
Visualizing is an important strategy because what you read may not be in your mind for a long time but a visual aid will prove different. The reason behind this is your content’s appeal to your senses. Reading will paint a picture in your mind whereas visualising will transport you to the place and will enable you to be a part of that picture.
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Wrapping Up
The process of writing revolves around words and stories. Reading is an activity that will provide you with words and stories. The connection between the activities of writing and reading is that of demand and supply. Writing demands knowledge from you and reading provides it.