Tag: Not THAT

In this continuing series, I provide concrete dos and don’ts for a variety of writing and reading practices.

Do THIS: Read things at different speeds.

Not THAT: Assume you can read everything at the same speed.

Explanation: I encourage students to listen to audiobooks while they read. One benefit of audiobooks is that you can adjust the speed. Audible, for instance, now offers you the chance of listening to your book 3.5x the normal speed, with increments of a tenth of a speed.

I shouldn’t assume that I can read everything at the same speed. Faster is great, but faster is not always better. Faster is relative. I do not read Shakespeare the same speed that I read Patti Smith which is not the same speed I read the Bible or a piece of literary criticism or a personal productivity.

The standard reading speed is 250 words per minute. Here are some categories of work I read with the corresponding speed.

• A business book…3x
• Web articles…3x
• A personal productivity book…2.5x
• A typical 20th century novel…2.5x
• A typical 19th century novel…2.0x
• The Bible in a modern translation…2.5x
• Student work…2x
• My own writing…2x
• Classical philosophy….1.5x
• A Shakespeare play…1.5x
• Epic poetry…1.5x
• Continental philosophy…1.25x

If I am reading a difficult article, I try to skim the whole thing faster than I can actually read it just to get a sense of its contours. Then, I go back and read it more slowly. That is, I read the same thing at different speeds.

If something is worth reading well, it’s worth reading more than once. You should use the speed of your reading as a way to figure out if it’s worth reading more than once.

In this continuing series, I provide concrete dos and don’ts for a variety of writing and reading practices.

Do THIS: Read the introduction to an article / chapter provided by the editors.

Not THAT: Ignore everything in the book but the assigned reading.

Explanation: This is a companion to the previous entry in the series.

If I wanted to drive to Lookout Mountain, GA from my home in Fountain Inn, SC, it would be silly not to look at a map, either before I leave home or during my trip to check my progress.

The prefatory notes provided in your textbooks are a map. They point out the destination and even mark some interesting sites worth seeing along the way.

In other words, the prefatory notes should give you the main idea from your reading. If you read those notes first, you’ll enter the piece knowing what’s most important and what points are complementary at best or not worth remembering at worst. If you read those notes after you’re done reading (another legitimate practice), you’ll have something to compare your own sense of the assignment against.

If your interpretation of the reading assignment clashes with the introductory notes, fantastic! ! You have something interesting to write about. If your interpretation of the reading assignment is in concert, congratulations! Write down the supporting pieces of evidence that confirm the conclusions both you and the prefatory note writers have reached.

The introductory material is a road map. No, looking at Google Maps directions to Lookout Mountain, GA is not the same as driving those windy Georgia backroads, but I’m much more likely to get to my destination if I use the guide than if I try to go it alone.

In this continuing series, I provide concrete dos and don’ts for a variety of writing and reading practices.

Do THIS: Use outside sources to complement your reading.

Not THAT: Use outside sources to replace your reading.

Explanation: If I offered you a bowl of ketchup as a meal, you would turn it down. If I offered you a glass filled with lemon wedges and no water, you might throw it in my face.

Ketchup and lemons are complements. They enhance the flavor of something substantive, but they are not designed to provide nourishment on their own.

This is true of outside sources too: summaries, author interviews, essays on major themes, or even YouTube lectures. When used properly, all of these can enhance your enjoyment of the work.

But if you decide to replace reading The Great Gatsby with reading a summary of The Great Gatsby from SparkNotes? Well, you’ve just consumed a bowl of ketchup.

The temptation comes from the fact that these outside sources seem like a less-time-consuming replacement meal: exchanging a regular meal for fast food.

But this is a mistake. You’re not exchanging steak for a hamburger. At best, you’re exchanging steak for a bowl of A-1.

If you use outside sources well, you’ll find your experience of the book your reading richer and more rewarding. If you substitute outside sources for the work, don’t be surprised if you develop a tummy ache.

In this continuing series, I provide concrete dos and don’ts for a variety of writing and reading practices.

Do THIS: Take notes right after you finish reading.

Not THAT: Tell yourself you’ll take take notes later.

Explanation: Because reading can be mentally draining, the thought of following an intense mental workout with more mentally draining writing can be daunting.

Remember, the material you’ve just absorbed will never be fresher than the moment is after you’ve just read it.

So what exactly do you write down?

If you don’t have a template for your notes, I would suggest jotting down these three things:

• 3 things you already knew
• 3 things you didn’t know
• 3 things you have questions about

The above categories are not intensely analytical. They simply ask you to take what you can immediately remember about what you read and put them in three non-evaluative boxes.

It may take time for you to know how you feel or what you think about what you’ve read. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write something down immediately after reading, however.

If you make reading then writing a habit, you’ll have a head start on the harder work of making sense of what you’ve read.

Reading and writing are ideal partners, and one of the best habits you can form is firmly connecting your input (reading) with output (writing). When you follow your reading with notetaking, you’re both consuming and producing.

In this continuing series, I provide concrete dos and don’ts for a variety of writing and reading practices.

Do THIS: Have a reading goal before you start.

Not THAT: Pick up and read a book without a plan.

Explanation: The chances that any book you start to read will suck you in is small. The chance that a book you’re assigned will suck you is, unfortunately, even smaller. You won’t keep reading if you haven’t made up your mind to do.

You have two options for your goal: input or output.

You can read for certain amount of time (input) or you can read for a certain number of pages (output). Either works.

Reading a chapter per sitting makes sense. Reading for fifteen minutes works too. I’m not telling you what your goal should be, but you must have a goal.

The beauty of this plan is that should you fall in immediate love with the book you’re reading and then blow right past your time or page commitment, you’re fine. If you make a plan, you will get your work done and you’re still open to the power of page-turner. If you pick up the book without a plan, you lower your chances of getting your work done, much less being sucked in by it.