To read as an academic: The transformative journey of a reader turned student

What we study has a huge impact on the way our brains work, on how we perceive certain things. For example, a mechanical engineer, having studied mechanical engineering, might view machines differently than you and I might. A musician from Julliard might perceive the new Taylor Swift album differently than you and I would.

Brains become attuned to adapt to the different ways of thinking that we may learn depending on the education we are gaining. Based on this idea, as a reader myself, I became curious as to how the experience of reading might change for someone who studied it for a living, and how the lens of a literature student might differ from that of a creative writing one.

To understand what it might mean to be a student of either of these programs, it is important for us to first understand what each area of study attempts to study. While both subjects are broad and the difference between them technical, in the simplest of terms, literature tends to revolve more around history and critique, as opposed to creative writing, which tends to have more to do with creation.

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I wanted to become a writer. Did I need to study creative writing?

To gain an understanding of how this area of education might affect one's reading, I spoke to several students and teachers to discuss exactly that. I found that one thing they all shared in common was how reading solely for the sake of consuming a fairly decent story was no longer something any of them could do. Reading had become much more than that, something that required scrutiny and analysis. And while some had grown fond of how reading had changed for them, others disagreed.

"It's completely changed how I engage with literature as a whole," says Tasnim Naz Chowa, a lecturer for the Department of English at Bangladesh University of Professionals. "Before, I would read more contemporary stories, mainly to entertain myself, but ever since embarking on a literature degree, I've found myself wanting to read books that would make me think critically."

"The academic study of literature and reading for pleasure—I think that's synonymous for me now," agrees Tashfia, another literature student and a teacher at Scholastica. "I read because I enjoy scrutinising the details of its crafting, its prospects, its merits, its impacts, etc."

There are many, much like Tasnim and Tashfia, who fell in love with this new understanding and perception of reading. They found a completely new way of consuming literature. Not just consuming it, but at the risk of stating the obvious—studying it. It became a force of habit to peel back layers of a story, and to try and find out what lies at the core.

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Are you what you read?

Not everyone, however, was completely fond of how their experience with books had changed.

"Reading fiction used to be fun," says Nawar Fairooz, a graduate of literature but a writer by profession. "I've become obsessed with deconstructing stories till there's nothing left of it. Studying the craft itself has ruined a lot of that for me."

As a reader myself, I have to admit, the idea of laying back after a long day of work and committing the simple but beautiful act of mindlessly reading about fictional characters in a fictional world seems like a luxury I couldn't dream of losing. Similarly, according to Nawar, that is a loss that she grieves.

However, with the loss of one, there is the gain of much more—a much deeper understanding of literature that any one of us might only dream of having. In the pursuit of exactly what else that might be, I then asked what elements of a story might stand out to students of both.

When it comes to the few noticeable differences in a story, elements most observed in literature tend to be things such as symbolism, historical context, and thematic depth. In the case of creative writing, however, enthusiasts tend to be drawn to the elements of storytelling, character dynamics, and the complexity or lack thereof of a plot.

When asked what regarding a story might stand out most to her, Nawar said, "The narrative structure—or the shape of a story—is what I notice first. And then my creative writing hat comes off and my literature hat comes right back on, sending me spiralling down the theoretical, analytical, and historical aspects that come tied to it. "

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Unpacking the craft of creative writing

The narrative structure of a story seemed specific, however, to the creative writers, whereas the literature students were leaning towards the language, the style, and good characterisation.

"Good language makes a huge difference, in my experience," adds Tasnim. "It's exactly why I find myself drawn to Victorian Literature."

I then wondered: what does a good story look like to masters of the craft? What warrants academics to deem a story to be worthy of reading? To us, the readers, we may think of the story that most caught us off guard, the ones that most surprised us, or the ones that we connected with the most. And while we may be no experts, we aren't far off on that one!

"I enjoy observing and experiencing the various ways that authors bend the rules of traditional storytelling to tell the same stories being told for ages in fresher, more interesting ways," says Tashfia Ahmed.

"I am most pulled towards more experimental formats of storytelling," agrees Nawar. "Instead of focusing on the plot, I am interested to see what a writer does with presenting that plot to the readers."

And this is where the overlap lies. Both sides are in search of something that stands out—of writing that challenges the norms and rules of conventional and traditional methods. And while literature students are in pursuit of critiquing these experimental formats of writing, written to stand out amidst the sea of written works, creative writing students are in pursuit of creating it. 

Syeda Erum Noor is devoted to learning about the craft of writing and is an avid reader who can talk endlessly about the magic of books. Reach her on Instagram at @syedaerumnoorwrites.