In 2009 I'm going to write a short report on everything I read (road signs, newspapers and banner ads excluded). This is essentially what undergraduate arts courses do at university, the difference is I get to choose the set texts. It won't necessarily be a complete review, and may simply pick up on one important or interesting characteristic of each reading. It's about noticing, more than anything, forced attentiveness.
Why do this? 1. To force myself to read selectively and hopefully more systematically (by grouping texts for review by theme), 2. To force myself to pay attention to what is happening in texts at sentence level, 3. To force me to formulate an opinion on what constitutes good writing, 4. To share and compare ideas with others online who might be interested.
That may sound like a lot of forcing, but the process actually ought to be enjoyable. There is no obligation to read a lot of books, or even to read anything particularly intellectual. Reading thoroughly and well is the aim of the exercise, and since reading and writing are closely interrelated skills, also to learn something about writing.
James
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