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FlickrHow We Read
Talk to me about how you read.
I hear a lot about fast readers, slow readers, analytic readers, but these are just terms, big umbrellas that don't necessarily fit everybody. I want to hear about actual reading styles.
What do you read fast? What do you read slow? How fast do you prefer reading? What makes you speed up or slow down? Do you go back and re-read when confused, or do you try to forge ahead? Do you stop to look up words or write them down for later/try to get them in context? What environmental factors contribute to you enjoying your reading experience (or put differently, what is your favorite time and place to read)?
Inquiring minds want to know.
I hear a lot about fast readers, slow readers, analytic readers, but these are just terms, big umbrellas that don't necessarily fit everybody. I want to hear about actual reading styles.
What do you read fast? What do you read slow? How fast do you prefer reading? What makes you speed up or slow down? Do you go back and re-read when confused, or do you try to forge ahead? Do you stop to look up words or write them down for later/try to get them in context? What environmental factors contribute to you enjoying your reading experience (or put differently, what is your favorite time and place to read)?
Inquiring minds want to know.
posted by Tyler at
8:36 AM
3 Comments:
I'm a Re-reader. The more I like what I'm reading the more I'll reread parts to wring out of it every drop of great concept, interesting detail, appealing turns of phrase. I can read anywhere that isn't moving and some that are - airplanes, for example - but my favorite place to read is in bed with sitting in the sun a close second but NOT when it is hot. (Don't like hot).
The more interested I am in what I'm reading the more complicated my reading of it. Using a newspaper article as an example (though the practice isn't completely transferable to something longer, say a short story or a book- I'll explain that later): Assuming a headline or synopsis has caught my attention, I'll turn to the article itself, read the first couple of paragraphs and, if still interested, skim to get an overview of the bulk of the article then return to the third or fourth paragraph for a closer reading of what I have glossed over or missed entirely. With a book or longer story/article, my reading pattern is similar but more complicated. I read the first pages or paragraphs to determine the depth of involvement and concentration necessary which will determine the speed I can go and still get all the good stuff but once the story starts to fold back over itself with details - you know, referencing information presented earlier - then I fairly freely flip back and forth to reread passages to clarify what I'm reading.
Is that clear? Harder to describe than it is to do but then I've had decades to develop my 'style' and get comfortable with it.
Tyler
Obsessively!
Page 49 to select books - past the pristine perfection of the opening 5 pages.
Then if gripped from the momemnt i wake up to the moment I fall asleep from beginning to end and back to the start again - barring interruptions like family conversations or food.
Maximum number of a times I've re-read the same book without breaks - 20! I'll read anywhere including walking! The nuances are different each time!
I came, I saw, I decided to hang around!
@Elaine: Thanks for being as obsessive about this as I am--and thanks for coming to join us here on the Notes! Stick around, we aren't going anywhere except up, and maybe out.
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