I used to be a visualizer. At around the age of 8-12 I could imagine a movie in my mind as I read. Once I read an entire 500 page book, one which was relatively high level for and 8 year old, in a single day. Unfortunantly, I don’t to do that anymore despite being an older, more experienced reader. I slowly push the pages and subvocalize. it takes me a few weeks to read 500 pages. I don’t know what changed my mindset. It’s a lot less satisfying to read this way. Does anyone have tips about how to active a mental movie while reading?
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my reading started to suck the day I got my first smartphone
I just I accept I don’t have a mental movie and I haven’t for decades. What I have is a better appreciation for the flow of the words and some vague images.
But you used to have mental movies of books in the past? Any examples?
Personally I’m overwhelmed by so much media that I forget to read because it takes more effort than just watching tv or listening to a podcast/music. Especially since I can be multitasking while doing those things. Reading for me requires my full attention. I can’t even listen to music while I read. So I do it less.
There’s more distraction nowadays. It’s easy to pick up your phone and look through the notifications every 30 minutes and it takes just that long to get deeply concentrated. Something I do is to put my phone away, on the third floor and to tell myself to finish this 300 pages every four hours, which is a reasonable reading speed. It comes down to trading all that screen time on your smart phone for reading. I am trying to be more social so I’ve been doing the inverse but definitely feel like my brain is slowing down as a result lol. I’m becoming addicted to the notifications and I feel like it’s messing with my brain chemistry.
I loved reading on my iPad with kindle but I found I would get distracted too much so I’ve gone back to regular books and leave all my stuff in the other room on silent.
As you get older the lenses become stiffer and interfere with reading things close up. Your eyes have to worker harder to do what they used to do naturally at a younger age. This effort slows down the reading process, and I don’t know that there’s any way to counteract that. Healthy diet, I’m sure, is helpful, but it’s not a magic wand.
I’m experiencing the same thing as well, but I’m seeing improvement from dedicated time and more consistency in my reading routine.
Still, it sucks because I remember being so much more voracious when I was younger.
My first thought is what kind of books are you reading. I find that some books are full of fascinating movies for me and others there’s absolutely nothing. Most books are flashes almost more like looking at pictures rather than a movie. A lot of it comes down to the type of book, speed of the story, and reading level of the book.
I’ve had this same issue. Usually it happens after I’ve gotten out of the habit of reading regularly for a while.
I’m a part time student with a full time job so I don’t always have the time and when summer comes around, sometimes it’s like I have to retrain myself on how to read. But at forst I find myself reading and then realize I need to go back because I don’t remember anything I read.
Here are a couple suggestions I have that have worked for me.
- Pick a couple easy reading books in a genre you know you really enjoy. (Easy as in lots of action and less descriptive and wordy.) These stories can be a bit easier to lose yourself in and will help Kickstart your “mental movies” again.
- Find a comfortable and quiet space to read. Have a drink and snacks at the ready so if you get hungry or thirsty you don’t have to interrupt your reading to go get something.
- Read slowly through the first chapter or 2 and intentionally work on visualizing what you’re reading. Once you’ve done this intentionally for a little while, it will get easier to start doing it automatically again.
Sometimes it’s just about retraining your brain!
Ooh! Another thing I would recommend, which might seem strange, but try reading a couple young adult books in a genre you enjoy! I had a children’s lit class recently where I had to read quite a few young adult novels. The writing in these books and the storytelling has improved greatly since I was of that age group. The stories are engaging but usually less verbose than adult fiction which makes it much easier to form that mental picture. It’s a good way to get those juices flowing again before you move on to other books!
So weird you not getting any upvotes or replies this was so useful. Thanks so much! I just loaded nytimes bestsellers and spiegel (german) bestsellers into my reader and have a lot of other months too i been just collecting not reading, any tip for a good current book to start with?
Thank you! I hope these help!
What are your favorite genres?
You’re slow because you’re out of practice. The more you read, and read consistently, the more you’ll get better on focusing on the book and tuning out distractions.
Man do I feel this. My daughter wants me to read books she reads and man do I try. I just can’t enjoy it like I used to. I can’t visualize it like I used to.
I got better glasses and I realized that I was just blind and not disinterested in reading. I didn’t realize how bad my eyesight got, it was so bad that I could really focus on reading and it irritated me. I thought I had ADD or something. Nah, my eyes just rapidly declined in 6-12months. Now I read just fine.
i think it’s because of social media our attention spans are way shortened so maybe your mind is just more distracted
Maybe try reading some classics. I re-read The Three Musketeers recently and (unabridged, trans. by William Robson) and it was such a ding-dang blast. Every chapter is just easy to let the imagery roll through your mind: bucolic countrysides, brilliant sunshine or black as coal thunderstorms, medieval villages, castles, ornate palaces, silvery blades, beautiful women, mysterious night-time candle-lit scenes, the sound of footsteps on wood floors, the smell of wine and cheese, and the wittiest dialogues.
It reminded me what books could be when done well.
You probably didn’t have a smartphone and endless stream of content wreaking havoc on your attention span back then. At least not to the extent that we deal with that now. Idk about you but my brain melted post-pandemic, basically.
Anxiety and existential dread
My theory is that cell phones and social media have ruined our attention spans.