Reading

5 Tips For Better Reading

There are countless reasons as to why you’re likely here. Maybe you’re in a reading slump. Maybe you have to read a school book and are dreading it. Maybe you don’t enjoy reading, but you want to. Maybe you already love reading, but would like to have a deeper appreciation for it. If any of these are you, then stick with me. 

Tip #1: First and foremost, let me just start by saying that reading is not just for some people. Especially in our fast paced world you’ve probably heard a hundred people say that they don’t like reading. Maybe you’re one of them. But the truth is that reading and language are both God-given gifts and an indispensable source of knowledge and personal growth. Reading is not just for the select. 

Tip #2: Variety is the spice of life. Many people have trained their minds to either love reading or hate it. Some have decided that they only like one type of book (*cough* fantasy readers). But whether you’ve taught yourself to only enjoy one type of book or have taught yourself to hate all types, you are at a disadvantage. Fiction readers must be seeking knowledge as well as enjoyment, and nonfiction readers need to learn to prize stories as well as information.

Now, I'm not saying to romance readers “Go read a horror book!” or telling ‘happily ever after readers’ to go read Les Misérables. Tastes with books are very diverse, but you can't afford to get stuck in a rut either. 

Tip #3: We’ve learned so far that everyone should read, and that we should read widely. But how can you actually enjoy it? Great question. I’ll be addressing how to enjoy non-fiction first, so if you already enjoy those feel free to skip to the next point. 

Okay, so I likely have my fiction buddies over here, trying to figure out how to survive that one school book. Or maybe longing to grow in any given field but can’t convince themselves to pick up a book on it. 

Give yourself a reason! This is fundamental, but I think it needs to be stated. You will never finish any book without a reason to be reading it. Why do you read fiction? Escapism? Pleasure? Excitement? You have a reason. It’s the same with nonfiction. Why would you read it? Growth? Knowledge? Increased opportunities? Good grades? Find your reason. 

Great! You’ve found your reason. What now? Set a time frame. If it’s a school book, there probably already is one. Personally, I give myself one month. It’s plenty of time to finish just about any book, and now I know how much I need to read in a day to complete my goal. 

So now you have a reason and time frame, but it probably still feels very forced. What else can you do? Reward yourself! When you finish those daily goals, go do something you love for a few minutes. Don’t allow yourself to do this thing until you finish those little everyday goals. Have bigger rewards for bigger completed goals! I promise, if you start rewarding yourself you’re quickly going to find that that book is the key to fun! If only for that big reward at the end, you’re going to find yourself longing to read more than you needed to each day. 

Tip #4: How to enjoy a fiction book? In truth, from the non-fiction readers and writers I hear from, there is only one reason you don’t like fiction. Waste of time. You can’t figure out why reading that stuff has any value in the long run. You’re likely a very logical and straight forward person already, but setting a goal to read a fiction book doesn’t help because it still feels pointless to listen too. You can’t find a reason to read it. And the reasons the fiction readers give you don’t help, because you don’t care about that stuff anyway. 

What logical reason can a non-fiction reader have to read fiction? Understanding people better and a love of story. Life is a story, and you write another page of your own everyday. Fiction opens up the hearts of people in ways that non-fiction can’t. Story shows you the start and end of a whole journey, it shows you the prizes and consequences of the character’s actions in a way that is designed to reach your heart and not just your mind. You can read a book on why something matters, but it’s another thing entirely to get to see it start to finish in action. 

Tip #5: DON’T SKIP! This is the most important of them all! Whether fiction or non-fiction, both are art and both have God-given value (See my post on the value of art). Both offer lessons that you’re better with than without. So read! Read widely, read with purpose, and let others know why it’s important. Because if you only read one type or don’t read at all, you surrender to a loss of potential knowledge and understanding. 

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