I believe that writing stories gives you more appreciation and understanding for a good book. All the ideas that bring a book to life come from an author with an extraordinary imagination, which can captivate someone's mind and immerse them in his world for a few hours. Every day in class I was given an hour to dedicate my time to a story, it's almost like entering the mind of your main character and acting as if it were you. I never had any interest in writing before I entered high school, I never liked writing essays. I think the reason is that I didn't feel it was necessary to write a 5-page essay on "To Kill a Mockingbird." In the real world we will write a page or two for job opportunities and a few for the job itself, but you will hardly need to write an essay about some book or event in time; unless you went to college to become an English teacher, history teacher, lawyer, journalist, etc. Even if writing these essays was supposed to help your "writing skills", why not write articles to help your future, such as; cover letters for future jobs, interview speeches, life goals, creative writing, or court case topics if I wanted to become a lawyer? For me books are only fun to read if I can do it in my free time with my book, no