Repetition in Reading and Writing

Okay. So, I’m going to tell you a little secret on this fabulous day — a secret that sets up just about anyone for progress in any area of life.

Actually, let me retract that statement, because I’m not telling you something you don’t already know or that you can’t guess from looking at the title of today’s blog post. But hey, in case you didn’t catch the clue . . . 

One of the main concepts that breeds progress in any endeavor in which you take on is REPETITION. And, this concept is a BIGGIE.

As a matter of fact, we should NEVER underestimate the importance of repetition in the things we do. Repetition is the factor that makes a routine work. It’s the rehearsing of something over and over again that makes it absolutely stick and takes that “something” to the next level.

Let’s just think about it for a moment.

How does Stephen Curry make so many three-point shots and even a notable amount of half-court shots consistently?

How do Jeff Kinney, James Patterson, and John Grisham make such popularly-captivating books for their audiences — so captivating that the movie industry has chosen to highlight their literary works on the BIG SCREEN?

How do the contestants on any trivia game show (Jeopardy comes to mind) know any of that random stuff they’re able to rattle off at a second’s notice?

How do teachers have the patience to deal with other peoples’ kids all-the-school-week-long and for a third part of their day for an entire academic year?

And how do readers and writers of all ages get better at reading and writing even when both activities aren’t necessarily #1 on the list of all-time favorite activities to engage in?

Well, it all has to do with doing the do over and over and over again . . . making the do part of the daily/weekly routine, and carrying out that routine on a consistent basis over time.

Really, that’s the simplicity of how repetition functions. You continue the do over time and time again until you become proficient at what it is you’re doing.

And then, you DON’T stop there. Because once you’re proficient at that thing, you still keep on moving in the direction of forward progression. In fact, advancing past the proficiency level in any activity with the intention of continuing to get even better at that particular activity is the only way to STAY proficient and even move to a level where you’re seen as a go-to for helping someone else in that area.

Reason being . . .

None of us are all-knowing and we can never thoroughly exhaust the complexity of most skills, knowledge bases, aptitudes, talents, and the like, therefore we should be in a constant state of growth and continuous improvement of self in our activities we chose to pursue.

So, if you asked:

• Stephen Curry if he stopped repetitively practicing his shots once he was able to consistently make three-point and half-court shots, he would emphatically say “NO!” You know he probably even practices hundreds of those less glamorous shots a day (like those at the free-throw line) as well. 
• Jeff Kinney, James Patterson, and John Grisham if they wrote only one draft of all their subsequent books (after that first book that landed on a bestselling author list and/or garnered other noteworthy accolades) without having any rewrites or editing corrections to make on them, they’d emphatically say “NO!” too. 
• The contestants on a “brain dump” game show, teachers who give their all to impart knowledge to children, and developing readers and writers if they’re inclined to stop in the middle of their geniuses to take a break from learning and teaching and practicing what they learn and teach . . .

I’m pretty sure they’d say “NO!” like the others.

So, reading and writing development is like anything else. It takes practice to get good.

It takes learning the alphabet — how the letters look and sound — to eventually get to the point of reading words, sentences, paragraphs, and complete written works.

It takes repetitively reading out loud to one or two family members to work your way up to reading out loud to schoolmates or work cohorts.

It takes reading a written work with the understanding of the definitions of its words in order to understand the context in which that work was written and the overall main idea of it. 

It takes learning the alphabet — how the letters look and the way in which to formulate them on a piece of paper — to eventually get to the point of handwriting those letters that make up the words to the sentences and paragraphs of a completed written work.

It takes you writing a book report or two about someone else’s literary masterpiece before writing your own.

It requires you to have a tolerance for reading before you’ll ever be able to write.

See where I’m going with this?

Essentially, you have to practice to get better. First things first. Get good at the foundational steps (THE BASICS) and master them. Then, work your way up, but always know and practice those basics as you get fancier and fancier in your skills, laying more complex layers to what you do.

You have to put in the work in order to become proficient at just about anything you do. And you have to consistently do so, repeating, repeating, and repeating some more — those steps that are leading to forward-moving progress in that “thing” you do.

Reading and writing (even in the reluctant participant) have the ability to develop into favorite pastimes when positively, creatively, and strategically placed into an individual’s field of vision. And having motivational and supportive accountability partners to help encourage repetitive engagement in these two activities is the cherry on top of the icing that’s on top of the cake.

MORE TO COME ON POSITIVE, CREATIVE, AND STRATEGIC WAYS TO INCENTIVIZE READERS AND WRITERS OF ALL AGES AND AT ALL SKILLS LEVELS.