Have you ever considered learning to speed read?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ekbell

And then there's scanning which involves taking in just enough of the meaning to be able to slow when I come across a bit I want to actually read and remember.

You've just described what speedreading basically is.

[Phogg]

I took a speed reading class in high school as a blow off to inflate my grades. The teachers caught me filling out the workbooks in advance because I naturally read as fast as the machine could go before I enrolled in the class.

I was made to take a poetry writing class instead.

I already wrote poetry fairly well.

[CatherineStewart]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, speedreading is a specific technique for extracting the pertinent facts from a passage of text and "blanking out" the extraneous stuff. Very useful for people like lawyers who need to quickly read a huge quantity of written material. Completely useless for reading fiction for leisure.

So this makes me realize I'm totally clueless about the reason for speed reading. I thought you would still read every word and retain every detail but just be able to do it faster

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by CatherineStewart

So this makes me realize I'm totally clueless about the reason for speed reading. I thought you would still read every word and retain every detail but just be able to do it faster

I tend to learn something new here every day.

[CatherineStewart]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I tend to learn something new here every day.

Ok so I just need to invent a new way to speed read, where you still read every word and retain everything so I can read 1-2 books a week instead of 1 book every couple weeks (I only have about an hours worth of reading time a day and so many books I want to devour)!

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by CatherineStewart

Ok so I just need to invent a new way to speed read, where you still read every word and retain everything so I can read 1-2 books a week instead of 1 book every couple weeks (I only have about an hours worth of reading time a day and so many books I want to devour)!

If you ever get that done, bottle it and sell it. You will make a fortune.
Oh yes, most of us have TBRs. Or should I say MBTT. More books than time.

[CatherineStewart]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Or should I say MBTT. More books than time.

It kinda makes me sad to think I will never be able to read all the books I want to before I die! Yes, a bit dramatic but...

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by CatherineStewart

Wow, ok I never considered font, or genre as a help or hindrance in speed reading.

In addition to font, font size and line width make a difference.

If you can get an entire line in your eye's "sweet spot", you can read by just moving your eyes down the page...no left-right movement. So, get the widest reader you can that allow you to do this. Then, set the font size as small as you can handle.

Now, reading is just page turn, move eyes to top of page while it refreshes, scan down the page, and repeat.

You can also use a two-column format and only have to move your eyes left and right to switch columns. This allows you to have another way to set the line width to match your body.

[elsussman]

Many years ago( about 40) as a lark I went to a free Evelyn Wood speed reading class. It was about 45 minutes of promo and then teaching you one technique-such as scanning down the center of the page. They guaranteed that you would improve your reading reading by a certain amount by the end of the course. What was readily apparent to me was the fact that what they were really teaching was the more you read the faster you can read. The speed depends on the content and the purpose of your reading-i.e. technical material versus leisure reading. Also when reading for leisure it depends on what you are reading. An airport novel versus a piece of classical literature

That being said I think reading on a kindle or kindle app on my phone is somewhat faster because I use a larger font size to ease my 70 year old eyes. I don't have to do as much left to read scanning. This is my subjective opinion and has not been tested by me in any way

[Tarana]

I used speed reading to return to my reading speed prior to college. I slowed way way down in college for everything because you had so much disparate information to remember vs. a plot. Once I got there, I was happy. You can sometimes get into a rut without realizing it.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, speedreading is a specific technique for extracting the pertinent facts from a passage of text and "blanking out" the extraneous stuff. Very useful for people like lawyers who need to quickly read a huge quantity of written material. Completely useless for reading fiction for leisure.

It is skimming. It is confusing calling it reading.

Sent from my ONE A2003 using Tapatalk

[tompe]

Originally Posted by ekbell

And I find the fact that some people read at a sufficiently reliable pace as to be able to use autoscroll to be peculiar. I'm always speeding through less interesting bits and slowing down to take in 'important' bits of the books I read.

And then there's scanning which involves taking in just enough of the meaning to be able to slow when I come across a bit I want to actually read and remember.

That is not reading the book. All part of a book are important. Otherwise an editor would have cut the unimportant stuff. That is for good books.

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[BookCat]

I have an amazing speed reading software called AceReader Pro, which is now available as AceReader Elite. I'm in no way affiliated but have had great after-care service from them.
The software teaches a number of things. Firstly, to read in 'chunks' rather than individual words.
So instead of reading like this Iwouldread ingroupsof wordslikethis whichismuch fasterthan readingone wordat atime.
It also teaches you to stop 'saying' the words in your head; instead you just see the meaning. Subvocalising slows reading to the pace of speech.

There's a 30 day trial version of the software which I can really recommend. It's not cheap, but I'm in the UK and have been phoned from the US when I've emailed them with an issue (such as not being able to open the software or moving it from an old XP pc to a Windows 7 pc).

[barryem]

I took some kind of speed reading course in the early 1960s. I don't remember much about it or where or why I took it but at the time I was in college and I found it useful for some things. I didn't usually use the techniques I learned and after leaving college I stopped using them and I don't even remember what they were now.

I normally read about 300 wpm although it seems to vary a lot depending on how tired I am and what I'm reading. I can double that and even a little more without much difficulty but over time I lose track and have to double back, so not much is gained, if anything.

As for reading novels faster to get more read I read for pleasure and I don't want to do anything to give myself a production mindset toward reading. It's for fun. I want to do it at the pace that's most enjoyable.

I also have a very large TBR library and I couldn't finish it in 100 years and it grows faster than I read so it keeps getting bigger. Fine. I can't read everything. Who cares!

I also love ice cream and I just have to find ways to live with the fact that I'll never eat all the world's ice cream. It's difficult to take but I manage to live with it.

Of course the obvious comparison would be to getting through sex as quickly as possible. Are there speed sex courses?

Barry

[Barbara1955]

I read Fast if the plot gets exciting. Providing its English