Reading as construction work

If writing is a blueprint which we, as readers, turn into cathedrals or palaces, then isn’t it also a route map?

Alberto Manguel says books are the compasses that guide us both in our self-discovery and in our exploration of the world.
Fiction - and much non-fiction - tells the stories of people on journeys: from innocence to experience, in the broadest sense.

This is the journey that we all have to make – over and over again – in our lives as we learn what works and what doesn’t; what is worthwhile, and what isn’t; what persists and what is ephemeral.

And so reading books can prepare us for our own journeys. It can also help us celebrate the completion of those journeys.

• We run face-to-face and correspondence writing courses - see www.allaboutwritingcourses.com for range and dates