Turn Yourself into a Reader
Know you should read more, but you just can’t seem to stick with it? Just like anything in life that is hard for you to keep with, try starting small. Just start small. Read one news article, inspirational story, business advice column post, whatever you find enjoyable. A short story perhaps? Start small, do it daily, and you’ll begin to need it and when you don’t do it, you’ll miss it.
I taught 6th graders for two years in an inner-city school district, and for 5 minutes a day, before my math class started, I had them read. It could be anything they wanted. I had novels, poetry collections, and non-fiction selections available to them, or they could read a book they borrowed from the school library. And, I can’t tell you how many moans and groans daily came from those kids when I told them to stop reading. They loved that time to read because it was what they wanted to read. I’m guessing you enjoyed reading when you were younger, too, right? All kids do! It’s when people tell them what they have to read, that’s when that love and passion for words starts to falter.
Start there. Don’t read something someone tells you to read if you don’t have that reading muscle strengthened yet. Read what you like. A sports article from Men’s Health! That counts! Enjoy it and read more like it, and you’ll begin to just start craving other subjects to read naturally.
After you’ve been reading little passages and articles, maybe read something longer (a novel or a non-fiction book) you’ve read before and enjoyed. Read it again. I guarantee you’ll find something new to love about it. And, after you’ve read that longer piece, find something in that category to read or by that same author. Here’s a secret, too. This secret some people don’t want you to know, so lean in close now. The secret is… you can stop reading a book you don’t like. Seriously. If you don’t like it, put that thing down and move away quickly!
All books are not made equally, and even authors of your beloved classics probably put out a stinker or two. A sure fire way to kill your new love for reading is to try to stick with a book that isn’t worth your time. Give that book away! Sell it! Donate it to a library or to Goodwill, but don’t let it sit on your shelf! You’ll feel it—day in and day out—staring at you. The words on its spine mocking you, making you feel that you should be ashamed of not finishing something you started.
Writing is a craft. Writing is an art. Writing is a shared experience between you and some lady hundreds of miles away. Above all, it’s subjective. It’s taste based. How many meals have you started and not finished? Do you finish every fry on the plate? Do you thoroughly chew through every bit of fat left on the steak? If you don’t like it, stop eating. If you don’t like it, stop reading!
Don’t make reading a chore because that’s what it will be for you. Make it fun. Make it meaningful. Make it yours.
Start small with something you like to read.
Take what you enjoy and read more of it (maybe something you liked reading before)
Find more books from that author or in that same category.
It’s always okay to not finish a book that doesn’t interest you. Life’s too short, and there’re too many books!
