Can someone tell me how to be a better reader?

Maybe I'm not doing it right, but I just read books and absorb the feel of the writing. If there's something that I'm struggling with in my own writing, I'll pay attention to that aspect of the books I'm reading.

I basically do what rwm does. Read. Read read read everything that interests me, and maybe some that don't. Remember the things that stood out and try to apply them into my own writing in my own way. Then read more. If there's something specific I'm looking for answers on, then I'll try to absorb it during a second reading, but I usually end up just reading straight through and going "Damn, I meant to pay attention to [that thing I forgot about.]"

I just read. I've always been a reader, but after I became a writer, I starting noticing how a book is written and put together. Sometimes things jump out at me (themes, motifs, symbolism, etc.). Sometimes they don't.

I have a degree in English Lit, which of course meant a lot analyzing of what I read, but once I left school I quit trying to analyze books and now I just breathe in the stories and see what gets caught in the filters in the process of inhaling.

I read and ask questions while I'm reading. Not the, "What's the theme?" kind of questions, but questions like, "Hmm. I didn't expect that, but it makes sense. Why does it make sense? Oh, because it was set up here when the characters were talking about X." I tend to keep a running commentary going with the book, largely in my head, sometimes talking out loud. And when I finish the book I think about what I liked or didn't like. I liked this character a lot. I didn't like that the author seemed to rush this part and it was hard to keep track of things. That kind of thing. Sometimes I write out my favorite lines or highlight them, though that's largely just because I like them and want to be able to find them later. I'll go back and reread my favorite scenes because it's fun and because it gives me another chance to look at those scenes and think about why they're my favorites.

I read them once for enjoyment. If it is something that is in my genre, my style, etc, I will read a second time to try and identify why I liked that particular piece. Is it the dialogue? Is it the descriptions? Is it the setting? The pace? You get the picture.

I read strictly for enjoyment. But if something in particular strikes me about a story, I read it a couple of times over, looking for what caught me.

For example, In the fantasy world where Elizabeth Moon's paladin character Paksenarrion exists, the author does a fantastic job of describing the small towns that dot her landscape. I read and reread them as my main characters travel through a similarly low-tech fantasy world.

I can't read purely for enjoyment. I read to analyze everything. I look at characters, setting, point of view, dialogue, themes, and everything under the sun. This may be why I leave very little books after finishing with a very good overall feeling about the story. I usually dislike the book. Something always doesn't sit right with me. A plot hole that most wouldn't consider a hole, or a character that isn't really likeable, or unbelievable character motivations, or unsurprising endings, or endings that I would have done differently, or too many love triangles, or not enough description, or too much description....

You can imagine how difficult my girlfriend has it to try to live with me. I'm a perfectionist by nature, and my eyes are always searching for the flaws on page. I do find enjoyment in books, but I also let the book teach me. If it's a rare story I enjoy, I learn about what to take from it that I can use. If it's something I struggle through, I learn to not repeat some of those mistakes that the author made.

If you want to get deep into reading, here are some books that might help:

How To Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. This mostly applies to non-fiction books, but it did touch on fiction. This is a great book, and I really recommend it to gain a deeper insight on all books you read. It teaches you how to inspect a book, analyze a book, dissect a book and compare/contrast a book to another one with the same topic.

How To Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C Foster. This book shows you the intricacies of story and literature. He touches on imagery and symbols that fly above our heads at first glance. He's also witty on the page, and it really makes the whole read enjoyable.

Now that I recommended those, picking up a novel or a short story won't hurt. If you want to analyze, I recommend starting with short stories. Find your favorite author and see if they've published a collection of their own short stories.

Hope this helps.

The first time I read a book, I read it purely for enjoyment. Then, if I loved it, I might go back and read it again, taking note of the techniques the writer used, noticing the turns of phrases that are particularly good, studying the pacing and so on.

But more than reading, beta-ing has really pushed me as a writer. It challenges me to find ways to improve the MS, and in turn I use the same lessons I've learned on my own MS.

nastyjman said:

If you want to get deep into reading, here are some books that might help:

How To Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. This mostly applies to non-fiction books, but it did touch on fiction. This is a great book, and I really recommend it to gain a deeper insight on all books you read. It teaches you how to inspect a book, analyze a book, dissect a book and compare/contrast a book to another one with the same topic.

How To Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C Foster. This book shows you the intricacies of story and literature. He touches on imagery and symbols that fly above our heads at first glance. He's also witty on the page, and it really makes the whole read enjoyable.

Now that I recommended those, picking up a novel or a short story won't hurt. If you want to analyze, I recommend starting with short stories. Find your favorite author and see if they've published a collection of their own short stories.

Hope this helps.

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Be warned that How to Read a book is 80% filler and 20% amazing advice. It's not a bad book, it's actually very good, but it reads off like a college student trying to meet a minimum page requirement on an essay.

If I'm reading a book, I'm just reading; progressing through the story, absorbing the mood, getting a feel for the characters, etc.

If I go back to it a second time, I read to learn: I re-read sentences/paragraphs multiple times, pick out words and metaphors, alliteration, things that I find particularly good, and then try and dissect why it's good.

Hunter S. Thompson used to copy out entire passages from writers he admired - Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and the like - to get a feel for good writing. This is a great thing to do. I typed up a Flannery O'Connor story a while ago and I learned more than I ever would have just reading it (or re-reading it).

spikeman4444 said:

I can't read purely for enjoyment. I read to analyze everything. I look at characters, setting, point of view, dialogue, themes, and everything under the sun. This may be why I leave very little books after finishing with a very good overall feeling about the story. I usually dislike the book. Something always doesn't sit right with me. A plot hole that most wouldn't consider a hole, or a character that isn't really likeable, or unbelievable character motivations, or unsurprising endings, or endings that I would have done differently, or too many love triangles, or not enough description, or too much description....

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That sounds like a depressing way to read. I prefer to have that good feeling when I finish a book. I'll notice things I don't agree with, but I realize just how hard it is to write a book. No book will ever be perfect.

Catcher said:

How can I dissect a book and leartn from it,>? And what are your metholodgies for reading a book yourxelf? And how cna I learn from reading sad books?

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First, this is a writer's forum, so in the future, please try to write real words in your sentences. The way you write shows respect or lack of such. Even if you only had ten seconds to write--come back later and tidy it up with the edit function.

On dissecting: make a list of what you want to study: be it internal thoughts or narrator intrusions or landscape descriptions or character movements--then convert a book into doc/rtf and start color-coding the relevant sentences. When you see a chapter where internal thoughts are in yellow and landscape descriptions are in green--everything comes together much faster.

I still read primarily for enjoyment, but I have been making a point of making myself read moreof the newer authors who have emerged on the fantasy scene in recent years rather than sticking just with my old favorites. I will sometimes take note of how different authors handle things that have recently hung me up in my own novels.

I still read for enjoyment--or to educate myself--and I can usually turn off the writer when I read. That being said, I spent a good chunk of college dissecting literature and the more you read and the more you write, the more you see how authors do certain things in their work. I just try to notice those moments, maybe make a mental note of it. I'm not very academic with my reading these days--no lists, no questions or highlighters.

Other times, as I'm reading, I'll think about why certain characters worked for me, why others didn't, what elements worked, etc. I've underlined lines or passages in books, but that's more from a "I so relate to that" or a "I love how that's put" feeling than a studying thing.

Also--ready widely. I've become aware of how much I stay my little reading lane and I'm trying to edge out of it little by little.

TAMaxwell said:

I basically do what rwm does. Read. Read read read everything that interests me, and maybe some that don't. Remember the things that stood out and try to apply them into my own writing in my own way. Then read more. If there's something specific I'm looking for answers on, then I'll try to absorb it during a second reading, but I usually end up just reading straight through and going "Damn, I meant to pay attention to [that thing I forgot about.]"

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Yep. This is me.

I am the wrong person to ask. I am a horrible reader when it comes to getting stuff out of books. All I do is read them. That's it. No evaluation whatsoever. Nevertheless I believe I still get something out of the books I read beneficial to my writing. Delusional hypothesis to be sure.

I just read. Really throw yourself into the book. That's the only advice I have.

Catcher said:

Can someone tell me how to be a better reader?

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Catcher said:

How can I dissect a book and leartn from it?

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Your title and the first sentence of your original post seem to be asking two totally different questions, here?

I suspect that the process of thinking about how and why they're such totally different questions carries the clue to answering the first?

Read a book about "how to write." That'll definitely fill your head with questions you could be asking yourself while you're reading. Asking and answering questions'll help you absorb/retain more.

rwm4768 said:

That sounds like a depressing way to read. I prefer to have that good feeling when I finish a book. I'll notice things I don't agree with, but I realize just how hard it is to write a book. No book will ever be perfect.

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Yes, it is. Sad face. It's tough dealing with my brain.