How to Improve Your Reading

Some of these tips are so simple it is a surprise more people don't do them

What are your New Year's resolutions for your reading practice? I have participated in many challenges over the years. 

One of my favourites is the A-Z challenge, where you read a book for every alphabet letter. It is an excellent way to read books you wouldn't necessarily read as you try to gain more obscure letters. 

Some of you may be setting your yearly reading total on Goodreads soon. This always worries me as those who set a target of 100 can not possibly be reading the book to any depth. 

Reading a set number is a vanity measure and not always suitable for personal growth. Can you remember every one of those 100 books to any degree? If the answer is no, then was there any point in reading them? 

Here, I will show you some tricks and tips I have learned to make myself a better reader. Good readers are not always fast readers. Be warned, this is not a quick fix to reading more books, but it is a guide to help your reading to become more purposeful and help you in your writing career. 

Practice

Olympic athletes train for years to compete. They train to practice their technique and to build muscle to allow them to become the best. 

Reading is like exercise; you have to train and practice to become good at it. You have to develop your reading muscles. 

To become a reader, you have to read. I know, doesn't that sound obvious, but you would be surprised how many people tell me they would like to read more but don't pick up a book. 

As a runner, you wouldn't lace up your shoes and go and run a marathon straight away; you have to build up to it. With your reading, start by setting yourself an easy goal to achieve. 

For example, ten minutes of reading a day. That is it. Once you have accomplished this, then you can tick your habit off. Most people can achieve ten minutes a day; once you start building a continual reading practice, your time might increase, but as long as you read ten minutes, you have reached your goal. 

The more you make a habit, the more it sticks, the more your reading muscle develops. 

Pick the right books 

Again, this is an obvious step that many people miss out on. You have to read what you are interested in. There is a lot of snobbery around books. "Oh, you don't read the classic, only romance." This is typically followed by one of those smiles. 

Well, forget that person. You read what you enjoy; if you like trash romance, read trash romance. As you develop your muscles, you may go onto more classic novels, but enjoyment is the key when you start reading. 

If you pick up a book and don't like it, then don't struggle through it. There are more books out there than you can read in a lifetime, so don't waste your time on ones you don't like. Find characters you can relate to and read about them. 

I love reading classic novels, but controversially, I dislike Russian literature. War and Peace I managed to struggle through, Crime and Punishment I never finished. Sitting on my shelf is Anna Karenina. I am unsure whether I will ever pick it up. 

Many disagree with me; they say I have missed something by not reading them. Yes, I have missed time with books I will enjoy as I struggle through prose that I do not. 

Here is another fact that might shock you: a fraction of the people who say they have read great books are lying. 

Notetaking

Once you have the practice of reading established, it is time to look at using your reading for your writing. This is where you have to become an active reader and engage more with the text. 

You can do this in a variety of ways. Joining a club to discuss the books you have read is a good way. Writing a short review of the books you finish is another way. 

The best way I have discovered is through notetaking and marginalia. When I mention writing in books, people think I am a monster. So, let us clear this up: I have beautiful classic editions of many books I would not dream of marking. But if it is a cheap paperback, why not?

In my margins, I write thoughts as they come to me. I highlight passages that resonate with me and mark quotes I want to remember. I do this whether the book is fact or fiction. 

I will also journal my ideas and impressions on some books or add them to my commonplace book. I never do this as I read, but rather at the end of a chapter so I do not lose my flow. 

This is especially useful if I am researching crime stories and need to note case dates, names and details.

Quick Tips

There are also several quick tips that you can put in place to improve your reading skills. The first is to have a book with you at all times. I always have one in my bag, and the Kindle app is on my phone. 

Dotted around our house are books that I can pick up with ease. My daughter has ASD and no sense of fear; whatever she does, she has to be watched. I can pick up books scattered throughout my house when I am in a room with her. These are poetry collections or short stories, so it doesn't matter if I leave them for months, but having them there makes me pick them up rather than use my phone. 

Another quick tip would be to reread your favourite books, especially if you have fallen out of love with reading. Rereading different books at different times can change your interpretation of the book. 

My final tip comes from James Clear and involves habit stacking, where you take something you do every day and add a new habit. 

The simplest form would be to add reading to something you already do. For example, I read for 10 minutes when I go to bed. During my morning cup of tea, I will read ten pages. 

Recently, I have written a lot about reading, and this is because it is one of the most valuable skills a writer can have. 

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut. - Stephen King