Learning to read
On a bookshelf in my house sits a small wooden plaque with a quote from Thomas Jefferson “I cannot live without books”. This accurately reflects how I feel about reading, but it also serves as a passive justification to my wife for the unreasonable amount of money I’ve spent on books over the years.
I have always had a healthy appetite for reading and have long been in the habit of marking up my books with underlines, circles, and notes. The skill of writing came later, but my calling is inextricably tied to it, whether writing a sermon, an article, or church communication. if you asked me six months ago whether I was any good at writing, I would have answered that I was proficient, and on a good day, even competent.
So, you can imagine my horror when I discovered I didn’t really know how to read, or take notes, or write efficiently. The books How to Read a Book and How to Take Smart Notes were the vehicles that drove me to that sad conclusion.
How to Read a Book is a bit of a misleading title; it sounds like an elementary primmer, but it is far from that. This book led me to a paradigm shift. I was taught—as I imagine most people were—to read every word of a book because “something in there must be gold, and if you skim pages or skip chapters, you might miss the motherlode.” At 54 years old, I found I’ve been reading books all wrong.
How To Read A Book suggests the unthinkable: One can approach a book to extract the information needed from it, and a person can sometimes do that without reading every word—sometimes without reading many of the words, at all. However, other kinds of reading requires looking at all the words, and with a deeper engagement than many are used to. The authors unpack different levels of reading depending on what a reader intends to get from a book (and depending on the kind of book it is), and those approaches have already helped me squeeze more out of a book in less time than I thought was possible.
Similarly, I’ve been taking notes all my life; How to Take Smart Notes showed me I’ve been ineffective at it, since most of my notes live in books I’ve read and are not easily retrievable in one place to use in writing. Here I learned simple strategies to capture what I’m reading to easily reference later, making my writing process much more efficient.
Although I sadly discovered how poor I’ve been at reading and taking notes, there is a silver lining: I’ve found a process to get better at something I already love to do. If I cannot live without books, and I have a calling to write, then finding smart ways to exponentially improve in those things is like winning the lottery. and I’m excited to put these newfound tools to work this semester.
About the Author
Tim Clark
I'm on a lifelong journey of discovering the person God has created me to be and aligning that with the purpose God has created me for. I've been pressing hard after Jesus for 40 years, and I currently serve Him as the lead pastor of vision and voice at The Church On The Way in Los Angeles. I live with my wife and 3 kids in Burbank California.9 responses to “Learning to read”
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Tim, As I read through your post, I wondered what kinds of writing and reading you love most and which ones make you feel the most confident?
Great question Pam. I love a lot of different reading… fiction, theology, ecclesiology, business, biography, arts… as long as it’s written well, I’ll love reading it.
I’m most confident writing about spiritual issues and the church/church leadership. I’ve wondered if I would enjoy writing fiction, but haven’t tried that since undergrad, 30 years ago.
I too have one of those Thomas Jefferson “I cannot live without books” plagues. Oh, wait, YOU gave it to ME. Thank you again (in case I forgot to express my appreciation). Tim, you and I, have been friends for more than half of our 50+ year of living. You have expressed “room to grow” in terms of reading and writing. However, from an appreciative inquiry point of view: How have you already grown in these areas, let say in writing, over the last 5-10 years? Have you seen steps in the right direction that are worthy of celebrating?
The last 5 years have not been great in terms of growing in my writing. While I used to maintain a blog and had written some articles and a short book, my writing targets have all been missed in this last season as I’ve been fully given to a turn-around church. Part of my entering this doctoral program is a kick-start to engage my critical thinking/reading/writing again, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.
Tim, you mentioned sermon writing as a significant part of your job and your calling. I’m curious how writing sermons differs from other kinds of writing for you? I have zero experience in that area so I can’t quite imagine what the process is like.
Writing a sermon is writing, that is both like and unlike academic writing in so many ways. Like in that I consult and incorporate sources that know more than I do about the Biblical or practical implications of a text, unlike in that the style of communication is very personal and informal (a lot of stories, personal examples, connection points) and ultimately prophetic (What is God saying to us right now and what do we do about it?).
My biggest challenge with academic writing is going to be the formatting, style guide, references, etc. as well as the formality of the writing.
Tim, I love your humility and knowing how you are in the world (the little I know you) I appreciate your willingness to admit that it’s never too late to change. I understand the marking up a book and putting back on the shelf and trying to find it again for a thought! I’m curious what your new note taking approach will be?
Jana, I’ve landed for now on using apple notes as a sort of slip-box. Because notes works seamlessly between my iPhone, iPad and mac, and uses hashtags and folders to categorize. I can scan text, take notes, write down thoughts as I’m reading, then go back and revise and put in order. I did this with Mining for Gold and it worked great. Additionally I’m planning on using Zotero for Bibliographical information.
The key is consistency so ask me how it’s working for me in 3 months!
I can imagine your horror, Tim. But I guess you can also imagine my extremely horror feeling because I also found that I didn’t know the best way to read a book, especially books whose language was different from my mother tongue. To do that, I have to do several stages in the process of understanding the main idea of a scientific book in a foreign language (haha)
But I agree with you, Tim. Those books enlightened me because I also experienced what Thomas Kuhn called a “paradigm shift” when I read them. The author’s strategy of not reading every word has been of great use to me. Fortunately, this program meets me with this book.