“Fane’s heart drops like a ton of bricks as a feeling of emptiness wells up inside of him. And like that of warm summer turning to bitter winter without even that of cool autumn breezes, he grows hollow and cold. Fane tries to form some type of rebuttal that could save his already sunken ship, but he cannot think of anything to sway her. He breathes in deeply as he takes in what he doesn’t want to take in. He complies himself and with that of a thousand voices inside of him telling him not to, he responds very somberly and detached, ‘as you wish.’” (Excerpt from Ferona by Brad Lenaway)

Say what what one will, but writing is a beautiful thing that cannot be compared to things of any other outlet for entertainment or news. It is argued that literature, or novels, cannot compare with movies, for movies can simulate realism, sensual interactions, and basically stimulate the body’s senses. This article is not to denounce movies or any other type media, that is not the purpose, for many great stories are delivered by movies, television shows and other visual medias. The real purpose is to shed light onto an art that is gradually but most definitely fading from existence. These arts are those of writing and yes, reading, two things that go together like “beans and cornbread” as said by Louis Jordan.

Take a look around.

Are their poetry books in the hands of people nowadays?

Besides the ones who are always seen with their heads in a book and rejected from society for doing so because they are “different”?

This common stereotype of poets are just as prevalent as all blondes are dumb and all men are idiots. Granted, people have different thoughts, but the first thought is that poets are all weird and odd, as visual media has so portrayed them. However, what if they are the ones who are the normal ones and we, the ignorant sheep, are the “different ones” for not wanting to better ourselves. Those accused of difference are taking their own time to better their knowledge by looking into the thoughts of great poets like William Shakespeare, Homer, Aristotle or Edgar Allen Poe. This is only a single outlet by which knowledge is gained by reading. There are many others, of course, but the point being made, throughout this broad and almost pointless tangent, is that reading and writing is important no matter what outlet it is being applied to. It is statistically shown that reading of any kind can raise IQ, comprehension,test scores and also originality in both the classroom and abroad (Bernice E. Cullinan, New York University). And the sad part is that the people who embrace these archaic traditions are shunned and stereotyped by doing something they love and or to better themselves.

Now, if the reader is still with this writer, the writer applauds the reader, for now this writer is ready to divulge into the most important issue. Readers are spread thin; novelists even more so. Those both inspiring to be a writer and those who just wish to create stories to get away from the business of life. In some cases, though, two and two are put together. A writer begins to make his or her own world to escape to, and after awhile, this world begins to evolve into something spectacular; that writer then wishes to share it with the world, whether it wants it or not. This writer, who is writing this article, for example, before becoming a writer for the school newspaper, started out as an aspiring novelist and still wishes to be. School work has impeded this process but has not killed it. This writer began writing his freshman year without the slightest clue about grammar or storytelling, but after three years and 450 pages, he has created a world that is full of love, fantasy and action. A bonus to this, a dramatic rise in spelling and grammar. The excerpt above is from this book, solely named Ferona. How this inspiration came about? Well from writing’s most humble pair––reading. After finishing the Inheritance Cycle, this writer was inspired to create a world of his very own that began as a hobby to a full fledged devotion to story writing. But, as this passion is one of this writer’s opinion, another aspect to this as aforementioned, is that not only is it healthy to read and write, but it is a good thing to do. It exercises the attributes sought in the English classroom just like working out helps on the field. Writing helps with grammar, spelling and also originality that is wanted in essays. In accordance, reading helps develop a sense of self-reliance and personal beliefs that foster individualism and even attributes associated with transcendentalists by being introduced to philosophies spanning both people and time.

Thus all of this is now brought to this last bravado.

Surprisingly, there is a reason why English teachers and librarians wish for students to read. That being, to better the future through literature, a thing from their generations which was also shunned. They have witnessed what reading can do by their personal experiences and how it has bettered their lives.

As best said by Brom, “There’s a reason why we’re born with brains in our heads, not rocks.” (Eragon)