Reading Like a Writer — Guidelines and Mark-Up Notes

Core Concept

• Reading like a writer means reading to understand how something was constructed so you can construct something similar yourself. (Mike Bunn p. 74)
• The goal is to read as a reader to understand the choices other writers have made in a given rhetorical context, so you can replicate effective strategies in your own writing.

Guidelines for Reading Like a Writer

• Context
  • Before you read, establish the context for the piece: what is the purpose, who is the target audience, and what is the genre?
  • Use this context to analyze the writer’s choices made for, or because of, that context.
• Authorial Choices
  • Imagine the many choices an author makes and treat those choices as purposeful and strategic.
  • Reflect with questions like:
  • Why did the author use this word instead of that?
  • Why include this story or statistic?
  • Why place this part first and this part last?
  • What would I change about this writing, and why would those changes fit this context?
  • Is any part of the writing confusing? What makes it confusing, and what could be done instead?
  • How does the author move from one point to another?
• Prioritize Your Reading
  • It is not useful to read for every technique, style, or rhetorical choice; prioritize what is relevant to your writing goals.
  • Example: if you are writing a narrative argument, prioritize how the writer uses personal experience as evidence and how counter-arguments are incorporated.
• Design a List of Questions Based on Genre
  • Tailor a focused set of questions to the genre conventions of what you are reading (e.g., social media posts vs. argumentative essays).
  • For genre-specific study, create questions like:
  • How are lab reports usually formatted?
  • What kind of language is used (formal/informal, passive/active voice, etc.)?
  • How much detail is provided, and why?
  • How is each section structured?
• Mark-up the Text
  • As you read, mark up the text with annotations or notes to easily consult relevant passages when you write.
  • Options include highlighting, annotations on a printed/digital copy, or notes in a separate document with quotes or references.
  • This process helps you answer your questions and provides concrete examples you can adapt to fit your rhetorical situation and your writing style.

Adaptations and Licensing

• Adapted from “How to Read Like a Writer” (Bunn, 2011) by the Composition Program, George Mason University, Spring 2023.
• This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Licensing Attribution and Source Details

• The material is provided under CC BY-NC 4.0 International License, as noted in the adaptation.

Connections to Broader Writing Practice

• Context awareness (purpose, audience, genre) underpins effective writing decisions.
• Viewing authorial choices as purposeful helps in drafting alternatives and evaluating writing strategies.
• Genre-aware questioning aligns reading with practical writing tasks and genre conventions.
• Annotation and markup create a tangible bridge between reading and writing, enabling reuse of concrete examples.

Practical Implications for Study and Practice

• Improves ability to imitate successful writing techniques in similar contexts.
• Builds critical thinking about how text structure and language choices serve rhetorical goals.
• Encourages disciplined, goal-oriented reading rather than broad, technique-by-technique analysis.
• Supports ethical reading and note-taking practices through proper annotation and documentation of sources.

Real-World Relevance

• Useful for academic writing (essays, reports, lab notes) and professional communication where genre conventions and audience expectations drive design choices.
• Helps in preparing for exams or assignments that require close analysis of how texts are built and how to emulate effective strategies.
• Provides a practical workflow for improving one’s own writing by studying how others craft messages in specific contexts.