A great read (Terry, I read all the headings first, then started at the end and then read the whole thing :P)
But seriously, this was very useful. I primarily consume fiction in book form, so a lot of this doesn't really apply, especially because I want to fully absorb every minute detail from the author, but for online content and for thinking about my own Substack posts and those of others then this was solid advice, thanks!
I mostly read fiction but I'm trying to read more nonfiction and I've been struggling to get through all sorts of dense material. Thanks for the useful tips.
I’m a slow reader, but usually give an author the benefit of the doubt the first time I encounter them and will read carefully from beginning to end. The next time, I’ll adjust my reading approach if they appear prone to verbosity or dullness, or just skip them altogether.
Wit can also be used as a tool of compression; and a memorable line can make an article memorable.
For example, once you’ve read the last line of Dorothy Parker’s 300-word review of The House at Pooh Corner, you’ll remember her opinion of that book:
And which would you rather read, T.S. Eliot’s 2000-word “Hamlet and His Problems” (memorable line: “[Hamlet] is the “Mona Lisa” of literature”), with its solitary footnote…
SUCH a valuable post! Those 'mental hooks' are so important, aren't they? We all have certain words that leap out at us anyway, such as our own name, or a location, or something pertaining to our favourite hobby or favourite subject matter - but I'd never thought of thinking ahead to what I'm hoping to discover in a text that I'm about to read. Setting up those 'mental hooks' you speak of would do exactly that job!
I'm certainly going to be working on my reading technique now! I get very, very bogged down in reading, feeling that if I've committed to read something I am obliged to read it really really properly. In fact I don't NEED to go to that level in everything I'm reading! Reading this post has been such a relief in that respect - it has opened my eyes WIDE, Terry and Mary! Thank you. ⭐️
Nicely done, Terry. I read both fiction and non. Reading the TOC always helps with nonfiction!
A great read (Terry, I read all the headings first, then started at the end and then read the whole thing :P)
But seriously, this was very useful. I primarily consume fiction in book form, so a lot of this doesn't really apply, especially because I want to fully absorb every minute detail from the author, but for online content and for thinking about my own Substack posts and those of others then this was solid advice, thanks!
I mostly read fiction but I'm trying to read more nonfiction and I've been struggling to get through all sorts of dense material. Thanks for the useful tips.
I’m a slow reader, but usually give an author the benefit of the doubt the first time I encounter them and will read carefully from beginning to end. The next time, I’ll adjust my reading approach if they appear prone to verbosity or dullness, or just skip them altogether.
Wit can also be used as a tool of compression; and a memorable line can make an article memorable.
For example, once you’ve read the last line of Dorothy Parker’s 300-word review of The House at Pooh Corner, you’ll remember her opinion of that book:
https://bookmarks.reviews/in-which-winnie-the-pooh-makes-dorothy-parker-throw-up/
And a publication like the Economist, even when it strays far from its remit (“economics”), usually does so with concision (600 words) and flare:
https://www.economist.com/britain/2023/01/31/the-murder-of-a-king-makes-for-a-most-jolly-day-out
And which would you rather read, T.S. Eliot’s 2000-word “Hamlet and His Problems” (memorable line: “[Hamlet] is the “Mona Lisa” of literature”), with its solitary footnote…
https://www.bartleby.com/200/sw9.html
Or Freud colleague Ernest Jones’ 17,000-word study in Hamlet’s motive, with its 125 footnotes?
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_American_Journal_of_Psychology/Volume_21/The_%C5%92dipus-complex_as_an_Explanation_of_Hamlet%27s_Mystery:_A_Study_in_Motive
Shakespeare: “Brevity is the soul of wit.”
Parker: “Brevity is the soul of lingerie.”
SUCH a valuable post! Those 'mental hooks' are so important, aren't they? We all have certain words that leap out at us anyway, such as our own name, or a location, or something pertaining to our favourite hobby or favourite subject matter - but I'd never thought of thinking ahead to what I'm hoping to discover in a text that I'm about to read. Setting up those 'mental hooks' you speak of would do exactly that job!
I'm certainly going to be working on my reading technique now! I get very, very bogged down in reading, feeling that if I've committed to read something I am obliged to read it really really properly. In fact I don't NEED to go to that level in everything I'm reading! Reading this post has been such a relief in that respect - it has opened my eyes WIDE, Terry and Mary! Thank you. ⭐️
A good confirmation of my own way of reading the news as quickly as possible. Thanks!
Most informative, thanks.