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  1. alw86

    alw86 Active Member

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    How do you get the most out of your reading?

    Discussion in 'General Writing' started by alw86, Aug 29, 2020.

    Like most writers I've always read a lot simply because I enjoy it, but over the past year or so I've been making an effort to 'read with purpose', particularly new novels coming out in the genres I write in. In practice that has so far just meant forcing myself to get through books which I'm not particularly into but which have done well in their genres, and making a few mental notes of what does or doesn't work for me as a reader (I'm talking about fiction only here - for non-fiction I make actual notes as I guess most people do).

    I'm wondering what other people do, or if anyone has suggestions for what I might do to get more out of my reading?
     
  2. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I like finding interviews of writers I am currently reading. Invariably, the interviewer asks the writer what they are currently reading. It's a great way to take a step further back in the order condescendi, to see where your favorite writers are drawing inspiration. It may well take you into genres, topics, and themes you would not have chosen on your own. That last bit is the "getting more out of it" part.
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2020
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  3. alw86

    alw86 Active Member

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    That's a really good suggestion, thank you!
     
  4. J.T. Woody

    J.T. Woody Book Witch Contributor

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    Most books have discussion questions and if not, there are general discussion questions available.
    The book i just finished, i have to review it for work, so i wanted to get the most out of it. So i made annotations as i was reading and then downloaded the discussion questions for it. I followed along and tried to answer the discussion questions, and in doing so, it made me think about the characters and plots and even themes more deeply than i would have on my own.

    Also, talking about a book with others. I was part of a book club before the pandemic and, even though there was only 3 of us, we had a lively discussion on Red Haired Woman by Orhan Pamuk and they brought up things i didnt think about! Likewise, my interpretation was something that didnt occur to them either.

    Regardless... When i hear "read with purpose" i immediately turn to doing annotation. Thats why i buy books, so i can write notes in the margins
     
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  5. Cephus

    Cephus Contributor Contributor

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    The majority of my reading these days is reading for published authors. You have to read both as a reader, for the overall feel of the book, and as a writer, for the structure and plot details of the book. Virtually everything I look at gets published.
     
  6. More

    More Active Member

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    I mostly read mostly for pleasure. If you read a lot , you do develop the ability to see deeper into the writing . It is useful to read a lot of books by the same writer . Eventually you become familiar with their style and techniques . Reading revues on good reads can also be useful for a better understanding of things you have been reading. If you want to learn writing from writers , copying out their writing can be instructive . It was once a popular way to learn , but it is time consuming
    https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/want-to-become-a-better-writer-copy-the-work-of-others/
     
  7. EFMingo

    EFMingo A Modern Dinosaur Supporter Contributor

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    When I'm critically reading I spend a lot of time partitioning the story based on the elements the author or poet decided to use and to what effect that elicited in my response. This means I'm piecing together items like the perspective they chose to run with and if they purposefully deviate from it for periods of time. That's not always a bad thing. I like to consider why they made these artistic choices and what this brought to the field. Many authors like to break away from the narrative to inject their political or satirical elements directly into the description of something. Sometimes this can be highly problematic in the writing as it can change character and tone. This is why Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre sometimes feels disjointed. The authors own personal feelings start bleeding through over character. Virginia Woolf does a great job of describing this issue in A Room of One's Own.

    I like to look at the use of character and how effectively that resonated with me. The flatness or dynamic nature of all the positions, both of which have their place, and try to consider why they made that exact choice. Cormac McCarthy's The Road, for example, is mostly charactered with "the man" and "the boy," yet their characters are rich in nature. Why the ambiguity? What did it bring to the table as a reader? Or as another example, Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" which lacks any and all characters, yet the setting comes to life almost as if it were a character on its own. Read it and tell me what it added to the table. I have my own opinions, but that's for the book discussion area.

    How about dialogue? Some dialogue choices are bizarre but add a new color and focus to the story, adding a natural element to it through the confusion and ambiguity. Take a look at Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants." There's almost nothing other than ambiguous dialogue, yet there's a deep and concerning story plagued with Hemingway's gendered writing perspectives hidden behind it, which is exactly what he wanted you to look at.

    Even some basic readership qualities are things to look at as well. What made you put the book down if not for some outside influence? Did you get bored? Was it an egregious amount of descriptive words, or did the plot meander and lose touch with you as a reader? These are serious problems that will appear in your own writing if you let it, and you can be guaranteed that at least someone else feels the same.

    What I'm saying overall is to pull apart the story by its compositional parts as you read. Look at its plot structure like a normal reader would, but then pull out all the pieces that made it come together. Did certain repetitive word choices elicit a particular tone? Did the setting mirror that tone, take on a more realistic route, or contrast it entirely? Which of those routes did you attach to more? Can you tell the author's style from other texts simply by pulling out a segment of their work? Some of the best styles are immediately recognizable.

    Just consider a lot while reading, and don't be afraid to read a section over again. Some of the works best items, especially in poetry, don't come off in the first go around.
     
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  8. AASmith

    AASmith Senior Member

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    When reading, if I like the way an author wrote something or described something I highlight it. When I read a book it's purely for enjoyment and then if I happen to read something worth highlighting then I will but that is always secondary. When I am writing, I will something grab a book or too off my self and re-read certain sections and look for highlights to help me.
     
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  9. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    I think what you read is probably just as important as how you read. Honestly, I just read. I've made notes or dogeared pages, but the way I read doesn't actually change. I guess sometimes I will read something aloud when I want maybe a better feel of the language. I think the ways language is strung together wants to be read aloud. Some one once told ma to read a short story, essay and poem every day. Of course, I would couple that with longer works, but I just think a lot of reading can help with a lot of writing. Also, I love reading. I do it because I like to, and I guess I really don't know more than one way to do it. I think doing it often is key.

    As mentioned by @More, I, too, enjoy reading multiple books by the same author. I guess that's how we find our favorites.

    And as @Wreybies said, I also like to read author interviews and I think it can be very interesting to know who these authors are reading. It can sort of branch out your book collection.

    And there are some books, stories, poems, and essays I like to reread. But as for the purpose of reading, I do it because it's something I like doing more than binge-watching Netflix. And I do think the things we read can have an effect on us. I just want to take it all in.
     
  10. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    Probably you should read things that you actually like.
     
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  11. GraceLikePain

    GraceLikePain Senior Member

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    I've found that reading nonfiction is extremely helpful. More helpful than reading fiction. Thing about fiction is that the entire world is constructed by a specific viewpoint, and anything outside that viewpoint does not exist. In nonfiction, every viewpoint exists whether the writer wants it to or not. Likewise, weird things pop up out of nowhere that make nonfiction far more unpredictable than fiction. I think it was Tom Clancy that said nonfiction was more strange the fiction, because fiction has to make sense.
     
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  12. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    In what sense? It doesn't seem like nonfiction would help you understand narrative structure or characterization.
     
  13. JuliaBrune

    JuliaBrune Member

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    With a pencil ! I have been forced to switch to ebooks for 90% of my reading due the pandemic and living with an at risk person and my reading is drastically less efficient Oo

    I don't know about OP but I learned a lot from the Gabriel Garcia Marquez autobiography Vivir Para Contarla. It's a shame I let my Spanish go to shit, it's not a book I could read in the original language anymore :/

    Edit : Another example of non fiction I thought of immediately after posting is something I read recently. A (very long, very detailed) historical, anthropological and political study of an exorcism ritual that was popular in southern Italy until it eventually died out in the early 2000's with its last practitioners. The author's descriptions of the ritual are extremely good !
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2020
  14. Dogberry's Watch

    Dogberry's Watch Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Contest Winner 2022

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    If I'm reading for enjoyment, I don't pay too much attention to the writer-ly aspects of it. I like to let myself get immersed and if I'm in "work mode" for reading, I have to be aware of what I'm trying to think about. I don't know if that makes sense. If I'm reading something with the intention of a writer, then I'll do a bit like the others and annotate (except I don't write in the books, I use sticky notes. Unless it's a book already written in) the parts that stick out to me the most for whatever reason. If the piece I'm reading is short, I read through it at least three times, once for enjoyment, once for basic things, and then finally for an in depth analysis. If necessary. Sometimes a red wheelbarrow is just a red wheelbarrow.
     
  15. GraceLikePain

    GraceLikePain Senior Member

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    You'd think that, except that nonfiction requires more organization than fiction. Fiction is generated in the head more or less narratively. History is a collection of facts that have to be arranged in terms of context. Also, real people are inherently more interesting than fake ones, and realizing brings depth to characters.

    Not that I'm saying you should never read fiction, of course.
     
  16. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    I would expect not.
     

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