One problem I have had with speed reading techniques is a difficulty in adapating to the wide variety of reading habits one may employ.
I speed read both research papers and novels, but in very different ways. With research papers I browse and download many, skim abstracts, jump into the middle of papers, usually look first at the pictures, then eventually start reading paragraphs. I usually can ‘get’ the paper’s key concepts without having to read most of the text, although it depends heavily on the type of paper.
When reading a novel, I usually alternate between full reading for important/interesting portions and skip reading for boring or fluffier parts. I typically skip long visual descriptions (I find that whatever visual imagery I randomly summon usually works just about as well). When skip-reading, I typically scan the upper left corner of a paragraph and it’s first sentence to decide if I want to skip it. I rarely spend more than a day or two on a novel. If it is really unusually good I will spend more time with it.
I have yet to find more advanced techniques that actually allow me to read dense material at higher speeds. The simpler level-of-detail control is effective enough and doesn’t sacrifice comprehension for important material.
Oh, wow. I literally pause reading completely at non-trivial visual descriptions in novels to build the scene in my mind, and rarely go on until I have imagined the whole thing and sat on it a little bit. I find that the “page-to-imagination” process is the most relaxing and pleasant thing to me about reading most novels, so I relish it. (That might be a property of the sort of literature I tend toward, though—a lot of magical realism.)
Interesting. So I used to do that more often, and may still in some cases, but what I eventually found was that it just wasn’t worth it. Not because I don’t like the detailed visual imagery.
But because I found that what my mind would conjure up regardless was just as good, and actually the explicit visual wordcraft often doesn’t make for better imagery. It depends of course. A good character description is more important to me than say a complex architectural description.
I read novels in the same manner just a step further, I purge character and place names from from my memory just keeping the relations. If the book is really good, well maybe I will check out some discussion or the sequels and pick up the names then (they usually stick if its very good). If its just good, I won’t bother with the names and just discuss the idea or the themes behind it.
I find I keep all the enjoyment of the novel while saving a small bit of memory this way.
One problem I have had with speed reading techniques is a difficulty in adapating to the wide variety of reading habits one may employ.
I speed read both research papers and novels, but in very different ways. With research papers I browse and download many, skim abstracts, jump into the middle of papers, usually look first at the pictures, then eventually start reading paragraphs. I usually can ‘get’ the paper’s key concepts without having to read most of the text, although it depends heavily on the type of paper.
When reading a novel, I usually alternate between full reading for important/interesting portions and skip reading for boring or fluffier parts. I typically skip long visual descriptions (I find that whatever visual imagery I randomly summon usually works just about as well). When skip-reading, I typically scan the upper left corner of a paragraph and it’s first sentence to decide if I want to skip it. I rarely spend more than a day or two on a novel. If it is really unusually good I will spend more time with it.
I have yet to find more advanced techniques that actually allow me to read dense material at higher speeds. The simpler level-of-detail control is effective enough and doesn’t sacrifice comprehension for important material.
Oh, wow. I literally pause reading completely at non-trivial visual descriptions in novels to build the scene in my mind, and rarely go on until I have imagined the whole thing and sat on it a little bit. I find that the “page-to-imagination” process is the most relaxing and pleasant thing to me about reading most novels, so I relish it. (That might be a property of the sort of literature I tend toward, though—a lot of magical realism.)
Interesting. So I used to do that more often, and may still in some cases, but what I eventually found was that it just wasn’t worth it. Not because I don’t like the detailed visual imagery.
But because I found that what my mind would conjure up regardless was just as good, and actually the explicit visual wordcraft often doesn’t make for better imagery. It depends of course. A good character description is more important to me than say a complex architectural description.
Do You Skim?-- a discussion of reading styles—there’s much more variety than I would have expected.
A little more discussion of the subject.
I read novels in the same manner just a step further, I purge character and place names from from my memory just keeping the relations. If the book is really good, well maybe I will check out some discussion or the sequels and pick up the names then (they usually stick if its very good). If its just good, I won’t bother with the names and just discuss the idea or the themes behind it.
I find I keep all the enjoyment of the novel while saving a small bit of memory this way.