Reading and writing are distinct skills

I’ve been told that I’m a great writer. I think to a certain extent, writing well is a natural ability. However, I don’t consider myself a great reader. It’s a strange thing because both reading and writing involve interacting with language. One is understanding language and the other is producing language. I guess from a neuroscientific perspective, the region of the brain that produces language is different from the region of the brain that generates it, though apparently they are interconnected.

I used to think that reading is a skill that can be developed. I think to some extent, it can be. However, just like all language skills, it’s a challenging thing to hone because teaching language involve a subjective component where feedback depends more on opinion rather than objective metrics. This can complicate things and lead to confusion.