Overcoming the reader’s block
I think I have heard this storyline many times before and it rings true for me as well. The storyline goes like this: When I was a child, I could stay up until late at night reading, such that my parents would turn off the lights of my room so I could sleep. However, as I grew older I found myself less and less interested in reading, falling into what is known as ‘reader’s block’.
Similar to ‘writer’s block’, avid readers can also fall into this trap where they simply have no motivation to pick up a new book or even finish a book they have started. I have fond memories of my childhood when I devoured books one after another, completely engrossed in the story and letting my imagination run free. I would proudly call myself a bookworm and not be ashamed to reveal my passion for reading.
Nonetheless, I noticed that as I grew older, I became reluctant in picking a book and reading on my pastime. During university, I was occupied in reading heavy course books and my free time was either socializing or social media-ing.
As I realized I was wasting my free time scrolling endlessly through social media and immersed in useless content, I compiled a long list of books I had bought but not read yet, books I had left unfinished for various reasons, and a list of books I wanted to read again. I sorted the books by priority, meaning the books I would like to read first being on top of the list.
But that still didn’t make me restart my reading habit.
It appeared I liked the idea of reading and enjoying a good book, but actually going through the process of reading seemed like a tedious task.
How could I overcome my reader’s block now?
I started with a short story.
My friend was reading The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami and suggested I read Barn Burning from the collection. She assured me that I would definitely enjoy it. I downloaded the Moon+ Reader app (free version) as the book she had was in an ebook format.
During the lunch break at work, I motivated myself to read the story first and then do anything else. After all, it was just a short story that I could spend 30 minutes reading on my smartphone while eating lunch.
The story had a profound effect on me. It was really nicely written, plenty of details fit perfectly with the narrative and the ending left me wanting more. I was surprised Murakami could deliver such a gem in this short story collection that I hadn’t even heard about before. Surely, I had Norwegian Wood somewhere on my “Wanting To Read” list, but it was rather further down the priority order of reading.
I realized I liked Murakami’s simple writing style, the symbolism, and the depth of the characters he writes. I ended up reading the other stories as well, reserving my 30 minutes of lunch break to read a story each day.
I was also lucky to discuss the stories I read with my friend, analyzing details and characters’ behaviors as some of the stories had either open endings or were abstract due to the ‘magic realism’ element that appears to be a theme among Murakami’s works.
I am proud to say that I have kept a fairly consistent reading habit since picking up this book.
Going over my experience, I realized that overcoming the reader’s block is not any different than overcoming writer’s block. The plain piece of advice is:
Start small and build up from there.
This is how I started ‘small’:
- Urge yourself to allocate only 30 minutes of your daily routine to reading. I used my lunch break, but you can decide your own time slot and spare 30 minutes to read.
- Pick up a short story collection, a single chapter, or simply 15 pages from the book you started reading recently and motivate yourself to read that before checking your social media or texting someone back. Anything can wait for at least 30 minutes.
- Have the book available to you at all times: a physical copy of the book or the ebook version. The ebook version is easier to carry around and you can have the book pinned on the screen so it will be the first thing you see when unlocking the phone.
- Drop what is not working for you. Some books require more focus and thinking so unless you have the time (and motivation!) to spend more than 30 minutes reading, choose something ‘lighter’ to read instead. Remember, it's best to start reading something than nothing at all.
- Get a ‘reading pal’ and discuss with them. If you don’t have someone close to discuss and read together, I suggest looking up online communities. Yet, simply leaving a review on GoodReads to exchange views on the reading piece can help.
- Be a passive reader rather than an active reader, at least in the beginning. I noticed that if I am reading a physical book and I try to keep notes, highlight quotes or look up words in the dictionary while reading, I lose my focus quickly. I would rather get lost in the narrative first and look up the details later. Underline what you do not understand and check it out after reading. It might be easier however if you are reading from an app so that looking up words and highlighting is built-in functionality.
Reading should be an enjoyable activity, not a boring task to check off from your To-Do list. Once you develop this habit, you can expand the time frame from 30 minutes to 1 hour or even until your eyes feel strained from reading and you need a break.
The reader’s block affects almost all of us at some point. While some of us can reignite the passion for reading, some others may abandon it altogether. Keep in mind that people change and the books you may have enjoyed while you were younger, no longer interest you now.
That’s why it is important to start small to find out what you really would like to read. And as a closing note, I will be listing some suggestions on short story collections that might just help you overcome your reader’s block.
- The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
- The Wall by Jean-Paul Sartre
- Selected Stories by Anton Chekhov
Happy Reading!
