26 Dec 10 Why should You Read Books?

Reading is blessing, a source of enlightenment and awakening of mind and senses. The person who has never read any book doesn’t know the benefit of reading; it’s not just a hobby or time pass activity but immensely beneficial and enriching, which builds a person’s depth of understanding, intellect, nurtures creativity and imagination power. If you haven’t read anything till date, start it right now. Don’t be too choosy about what to read and what not, rather read whatever you get. Start reading a book today, of any topic, fiction or non-fiction. If you are still not convinced, here are some reasons which say why you should read.

Reading stimulates thought process

Reading mainly stimulates an individual’s thought process, making one think harder while sharpening comprehension and memorizing skill. While reading we try to guess about the content of next pages and understand the situation better, at the same time recalling characters and storyline. Reading also strengthens an individual’s concentration level.

Builds vocabulary skill

Voracious reading exposes a reader to numerous new words, phrases. Such exposure definitely sharpens vocabulary skill and develops command over the language.

Expertise on a subject

If you want to master a subject, don’t forget to read it first. Reading will build your knowledge and who knows tomorrow you may have your own book. Suppose you want to gain optimum knowledge in Anthropology, start reading books of the same subject. Soon, in 5 years time you will be an international Anthropology expert. If you are a research aspirant, it will help you too.

Reading helps writing

You can pen down great things only when you are filled with great knowledge from within. We are like a pitcher, always thirsty for knowledge. Fill yourself with knowledge, read voraciously; then only you can write great things tomorrow.

Travel world through books

If it’s not possible for you to travel the whole world on your feet, book is the best choice. If past enchants you, different cultures and places haunt you; why not grab a book and see the world through pages? Even while seeing the world on foot, you may miss many things and won’t come to know historical detail, but reading won’t disappoint you. Quench your thirst through books.

Tags: Anthropology, Aspirant, Benefit, Books Reading, Choic, Comprehension, Concentration Level, Creativity, Enlightenment, First Reading, Imagination, Intellect, Language Expertise, Non Fiction, Phrases, Reading A Book, Reading Books, Travel Books, Travel World, Vocabulary Skill

Filed in Education with 0 Comments

11 Aug 10 Why Should You Develop a Habit of Adding Details to Your Written Works?

Romeo saw Juliet for the first time and he fell for her. He now wanted to marry her, but their families’ animosity didn’t let them meet, and at the end they died, followed which both their families reconciled.

Was this narration of Romeo and Juliet interesting? Was it even one millionth of excitement that you got from reading the famous tragedy?

Why didn’t you enjoy it? It had all the key elements that were present in the original play. It told you everything that Shakespeare wanted to tell you then why didn’t you enjoy?

Because it lacked the details, isn’t it?

People like stories not because it connects with them at the level deeper than mere comprehension and consciousness, and details do exactly that. It provides fuel to emotion. Greatness of a story lies in detail. When writing a story, or an article, a feeble writer tends to wander around the subject matter using useless adjectives, dead cliché, etc. But when a great writer writes a story, he goes directly to the heart of the matter, and covers all he sees in his journey to the heart of the matter.

Photograph in outlines

If story is a photograph, details are color, texture, shades, and patterns, without which the photograph is nothing but mere outlines. And I am sure not many people enjoy outlines. A great picture is made when colors, shades, textures, patterns, and other things are added to the outline. Similarly, a great story comes to life when required detail is added.

What about articles?

An Article is a non-fiction cousin of story. It just differs in the subject matter it handles, people who are reading it, and slightly in the writing style.

There is no reason why a non-fictional piece could not be written in story form. After all, the goal of a communication is to connect and inform, and you cannot inform anyone, not with any credibility, without establishing a deep connection with he or she.

Tags: Adjectives, Animosity, Color Texture, Comprehension, Consciousness, Credibility, Fictional Piece, Greatness, Heart Of The Matter, Journey To The Heart, Millionth, Narration, Non Fiction, Outlines, Photograph, Romeo And Juliet, Romeo Juliet, Shades, Subject Matter, Writing Style

Filed in Writing with 0 Comments

09 May 10 How to Write a Book Review

A book review can either boost the sales of a book, or it can push it on the sloppy track to oblivion. Thus, it is important for a reviewer to write a proper review of a book.

Although a book review contains the personal experience of a reviewer, writing a book review is slightly technical. It has certain aspects to it which should not be overlooked, to make a review add value to the reader. In this post, I will talk about those technical things.

Anatomy of a book review

Step 1: Provide essential information

In the very first paragraph provide essential information about the book; like, name of the book, author, subject matter, publication, type of book, etc. You can skip this if you are writing a review for the online media, as the information will be available on the backside of the book’s jacket that you will put in the there.

Step 2: Write overview

In this paragraph, write about the book and the author’s intention behind writing it. You can get this information by reading the preface of the book, or the first chapter of the book. You should also write about the point of view from which this book has been written. You should also mention the genre, intended audience, and what style has been adopted.

Step 3: your view on the book

Now, write if the reader should buy the book or not. If it is worth reading or not. Write in brief about what you think about this book. Think this step like creating an elevator pitch.

Step 4: Elaborate

In this step, you need to elaborate on the topics covered in the book. You can also cite some paragraph from the book that may tell about the subject matter. If it is non-fiction, describe about the things talked in the book.

In short, you need to give gist of the book in this step to give readers an idea about the content.

Step 5: Give your judgment

The next step is to write what you think about the arguments, theories, and examples cited by the author. Do you think they are relevant? Has the author used them judiciously? How successful has the author been in exploring the subject? Do you think it would have been written in a better manner? Quantify your claim and make your suggestion here.

Step 6: Write about author

Now it is time to talk about author, his credential, and about books that the author has written in the past. Give a brief description of author’s background.

Step 7: Summarize

In this step, you will like to summarize all you have said above. You should write about book content, author’s idea about the topic he has discussed main points of the books followed by your remark and conclusion.

These are the essential steps in writing a book review. Along with these you can also include things related to physical structure of the book (binding, formatting, etc.) as well as about the index.

Tags: Anatomy, Backside, Book Author, Elevator Pitch, Gist, How To Write A Book, How To Write A Book Review, Non Fiction, Oblivion, Paragraph, Personal Experience, Preface, Publication Type, Sloppy Track, Step 2, Step 3, Subject Matter, Worth Reading, Writing A Book, Writing A Book Review