Introduction
Have you ever picked up a book, started reading it, then find yourself giving up before reaching the second chapter?
Or maybe you worked through the first chapter, determined to press on, thinking things would get better in the second, only to find that they weren’t. So you put the book down and never went back.
Well, sometimes it’s the author’s fault. As a writer, I understand the struggle, having experienced this in own work. I’ve had to grind through a few rewrites to make the story more engaging.
But most of the time, the writing is not the problem.
Purpose
Writers write because they have a story to tell, fiction or non, and want to share their story with others. Good, even average writers are conscious of the words they use, to form a phrase, a sentence, then a paragraph… This conscious act has a purpose: to inform, to entertain, or to educate. Or all three.
Days, weeks, perhaps years are spent jotting down letters into words and sentences to convey a thought, a story, a message. Thinking, researching, planning what comes next, how it’s going to end. Then there are the rewrites…or maybe there aren’t. And again, that could be the problem.
Okay Rog – so what is this Key to reading, you have yet to mention, so I can I get the most out of it?!
Two simple words:
SLOW DOWN!
Unveiling the Key: Two Words to Remember
Don’t just open the book to Chapter One and start reading, and off you go.
There are two parts to this Key:
Familiarity
Format
The Importance of Familiarity
Spend some time with the book. If there is a description on the back, read that first. Become familiar with the book as much as you can before diving in.
If there is a chapter list, read that. It won’t steal the fun, especially if it’s non-fiction. They put it there on purpose.
Some books have a Forward, and Reviews listed in the front. I will usually brave through a couple of reviews, perhaps I’ll read the Forward – but if it drags on and on, I’ll skip it and move on to Chapter One, then come back to it later.
A friend of mine had a different way to familiarize. She read the last few pages of the book first! I handed her my copy of “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, and she opened it to the last few pages and started reading.
“What are you doing?!”
“I gotta know how it ends before I decide I want to read it.”
I wouldn’t recommend reading the end first, but it got her to read the book. And that’s the goal.
Format
Note: The suggestions below relate mostly to digital books.
A friend of mine told me about a book Stephen King wrote called “11/22/63”. It was a story about a man going back in time to stop the assassination of President John Kennedy on 11/22/1963.
It sounded very interesting, so I downloaded it from the library to my Kindle device. It didn’t take me long to read it – at least it didn’t seem so. But I later found out that the book was 849 pages long! I was shocked.
I’m sure that a large part of this phenomenon was due to Stephen King’s writing skills. But I believe there is another reason, having to do with formatting and presentation. And I have since tested my theory with other, less engaging books as well and found it to be true.
When I snuggle up with a “digital” book (ebook), I change the reader settings in the app or device: the background color, day or night mode, font size, margins, letter/word/sentence spacing, until I can read with ease, and my eyes feel relaxed. Many digital reader apps and devices have these features.
Making the Most of Book Formats
As I grow older and my eyes grow weaker, this has become a necessity, and only found out I could make these adjustments a few years ago. Some will automatically adjust to the ambient light, which is cool.
Digital Book Formatting
And that’s what I used to read Stephen King’s “11/22/63”. I configured everything for maximum comfort – meaning the letters were a tad larger, the sentences fewer per page – but it was smooth sailing.
Because the words were larger and sentences fewer, so was the information (the story) came to me in smaller bites. I was ingesting and digesting the story slower. I had to… Slow down!
By doing so, I could digest my food in smaller bites, which is good for your digestive system, as many of our mothers and grandmothers tried to instill in us.
I found this principle is also true in reading. Slowing down doesn’t mean dragging your feet.
Like I mentioned earlier, someone went through the perhaps herculean effort to write the book, plodded through multiple rewrites, then at last presented it to you on a silver, though perhaps somewhat tarnished, platter, all for your reading pleasure.
So don’t just wolf it down, barely tasting it … take some time to savor the flavor, chew it a few times before swallowing. It will digest easier and you’ll get more out of it.
Even if you hate the topic, or storyline, you still may have learned something, or gleaned an insight, experienced some pleasure – if only for a moment.
Large Print Books
Audio Books
Audio books are great. I’ve gotten a lot of pleasure reading audio books. And you can read while driving – can’t do that with a traditional book (although I did when I read “Battlefield Earth” so many years ago).
Whether you’re reading with your eyes or your ears, you’re still reading. Reading is not eye-specific, it’s congnitive specific – involving your brain. It also involves understanding the material.
I clearly remember my English Literature teacher, Mrs. Borrelli, asking my friend John if he read the book assignment.
John: “Yeah, I read it, but I didn’t understand it.
Mrs. Borrelli: “Then you didn’t read it.”
So don’t think that just because you’re listening to a book, you’re not reading it.
Summing Up
I could go on forever, but I must finish.
When you digest a book slower, spending a little extra time becoming familiar with the story, you will get more out of it. Characters and locations will come to life, and you will pick up on nuances in the story you may miss if digested quicker.
I read the book “Dune” probably five times, and each time I got more out of it. I discovered nuances between the characters and the races, who lived where. Had I discoverd and employed my Key earlier on, it wouldn’t have taken me so many re-reads.
Your relationship with the book will improve your enjoyment of it. Or it will turn your head the other way and you’ll send it back to where it came from.
But every book has something to offer to someone – it may not seem to be your cup of tea. So give it a chance, spend a little time with it, try to get past the first chapter, and maybe dip your toe into the second. You might find a diamond.
Hey, if you enjoyed this, and helped you in some way, drop me a line. And share it with others who may enjoy it as well.
Thanks.
Until next time – love the one your with!
Ciao!
Roger
