Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them

Author Francine Prose says in Reading Like a Writer:

“If we want to write, it makes sense to read—and to read like a writer. If we wanted to grow roses, we would want to visit rose gardens and try to see them the way that a rose gardener would” (268).

Analyze how this statement reflects key themes of the book.

Referring to the limitations of a creative writing workshop, Prose argues that “though it also doles out praise, the workshop most often focuses on what a writer has done wrong, what needs to be fixed, cut, or augmented” (17). Use your own experience in a writing workshop or an interview with a workshop student to argue for or against Prose’s statement.

1.  Choose an original work you have written. This could be a work of fiction, nonfiction, or a class assignment. Apply Prose’s principles of close reading to it and change your word choices accordingly. Compare the new draft with the original and analyze the ways in which the two differ.