I love introductions. And this is my introduction. (So start here.)

My husband Duane is not a reader. 

Okay, that's not fair. He's kind of a reader, as in he is almost always reading something. But this is relatively recent. Maybe the last ten years or so.

(When you're married more than 40 years, a decade is relatively recent.)

And he's not an obsessive reader, like I am, and so I suppose that's another reason why I don't classify him as a reader. (I tend to define things rather rigidly.)

At any rate, last week he asked if he needed to read the introduction to a book he had already started.  I teach writing, and since all writing responds to something, implicit or explicit, I also teach reading strategies, and my answer to his question was yes. 

He wanted to know why, and so I explained that the introductions to books set up what the book will do, why the book is needed, and why it matters. Introductions give context for the book that help readers navigate what comes after, and when readers skip the introductions, they may miss key ideas or purposes and not really get what the authors meant them to receive. 

So, yes. Introductions matter. So do prologues. And prefaces. And the many other sections that authors include before starting their actual books. 

My husband then asked why authors didn't just call the introduction the first chapter, and my explanation for that was a little muddy. After all, that is exactly what many authors do. I think they do it so that readers like my husband don't skip over it thinking it has no purpose. 

Apparently I reject that practice because I am creating an introduction. 

Then again, blogs aren't like books. Most blog readers don't read them sequentially. And they don't go back to the beginning. 

And yet, here I am, writing an introduction that probably no one will ever read. 

That's because introductions serve another purpose. They help authors figure out where they are headed and then stay on track. And apparently I need that. Anyway, I doubt if anyone besides me will read this blog. 

This is basically a reading journal. I read something. I write about it. Hopefully I learn something about me or life or God or people by writing about what I read. It's summer, and I am hopeful I will actually have time to write, but who knows. 

I do miss writing, writing just for me. 

For now, I write syllabi, lesson plans, writing prompts, those kinds of things. 

I also miss talking about the things I read. I think I learn more from books when I'm talking about them when someone else has read them. I don't have a book club, and I'm not sure that would work anyways because I always want to choose my own books. 

I have gone off on a tangent, something that is not terribly helpful. 

This blog will also allow me to talk about what I am reading and hopefully explore and learn from some of the books I am reading. Fiction books. History books. Books about faith. Articles about education and writing and writing centers. 

And that's it. That's the sole purpose of this blog, which will mainly (or totally) be read by me. It someone discovers it, that's great. If someone joins my conversations, that's even better. But I don't expect that. This is mostly for me. Reading. Writing. Learning. Not all the things, obviously, but something.