Reading is a conversation that started with literacy, according to Jean Hegland, an SRJC instructor and author who spoke about a writer’s process and techniques March 14, in Newman Auditorium.

The interview-style conversation, with fellow staff member Terry Mulcaire, gave a unique look into the multi-faceted mind of an author.

The atmosphere inside Newman Auditorium was relaxed and focused. Out of the audience of 92 people the majority were older non-students, but some were students hoping to gain insight into her highly acclaimed novel “Into the Forest,” the English department’s Work of Literary Merit this semester.

The conversation focused on what it really means to be a writer, and a reader. Reading is “social grooming,” Hegland said. It allows people to have a personal conversation with the characters of a story and learn from their mistakes and triumphs in a safe space.

“Reading is not a passive thing,” Hegland said. Reading satisfies the human need to interpret and understand the world. Hegland stressed the importance of reading not only nonfiction but also fiction, specifically novels. Novels bring pleasure to the reader and help him or her make sense out of a complex world.

In her own writing, Hegland works extremely hard; her first draft of a novel can have thousands of rough draft pages. For “Into The Forest,” Hegland chose to use a stripped down outline. She knew the high points of the story, the idea of two sisters and how she was going to end. From there, she filled in gaps to make the story come alive.

Hegland doesn’t think about readers when she writes. Rather, she focuses on telling the story as a whole first to herself. Literature is writing that means whatever you want it to mean, Hegland said.

Everyone experiences and interprets “Into the Forest” differently. “I am an expert on my own experience with it,” Hegland said. Over the years, she has heard many readings of the text, some skewed and others original.

As the conversation came to a close the crowd erupted in applause. When asked how she felt about the conversation, Joanne Enemark, an avid reader said, it is interesting for an older person “to look back and think why we read novels.” Enemark reads for entertainment and stimulation, and talks like this help her to understand literature more in depth. “It was good to think about why I read and how it really affects the way I think about the world,” Enemark said.

As the auditorium began to clear, a group formed around Hegland. In line was a woman with a big smile, Tamsen Nash, a teacher at Pathways Charter School. She came to the event because she runs two book discussion groups in the Lake County area. “We are going to be doing Jean’s book in the spring,” Nash said. “It was a wonderful opportunity to meet the author.”

She liked the conversational style of the event, though she didn’t think that she got to hear enough of what Hegland had to say. She praised the perspective of having a professor and author discuss a work of literature. “I find that that’s one of those books that just affects you for a really long time,” Nash said.