Reading speed

[For T2]

So I have read on and off most of my life but haven't really became an avid reader until about a year ago. My speed has increased quite a bit since I've been reading daily but I am still nowhere near as quick as some people. It takes a little over 3 hours for me to get 100 pages in. For you quick readers, are there tricks and exercises that help you read faster? Or does it all just come with experience and time? 

[Chinkoln he/him]

8 minutes ago, roondawg valhalla said:

So I have read on and off most of my life but haven't really became an avid reader until about a year ago. My speed has increased quite a bit since I've been reading daily but I am still nowhere near as quick as some people. It takes a little over 3 hours for me to get 100 pages in. For you quick readers, are there tricks and exercises that help you read faster? Or does it all just come with experience and time? 

Determination. You need to decide that you are going to read and not get distracted. You also need to make sure you like the book. If you don’t like a book it is scientifically proven you will read it slower. Other than that, just read. Your brain and eyes will get better at processing the information. 
It has taken a lot of reading on my part, but I read the entire Stormlight series in 2 days, with my daily activities, such as school, chores, and sports, still going on.

Edited February 23, 2021 by Chinkoln

[Random Bystander she/her]

15 minutes ago, roondawg valhalla said:

So I have read on and off most of my life but haven't really became an avid reader until about a year ago. My speed has increased quite a bit since I've been reading daily but I am still nowhere near as quick as some people. It takes a little over 3 hours for me to get 100 pages in. For you quick readers, are there tricks and exercises that help you read faster? Or does it all just come with experience and time? 

It really depends. I read extremely fast. However, I miss so much of the books. I have to read and re-read books many times to catch tings other people caught on their first go. It isn't always better to read faster. But for me, I read quickest when I am alone in a quiet room, or alone in a room with classical music playing.

[Tacitus he/him]

1 minute ago, Random Bystander said:

It really depends. I read extremely fast. However, I miss so much of the books. I have to read and re-read books many times to catch tings other people caught on their first go. It isn't always better to read faster. But for me, I read quickest when I am alone in a quiet room, or alone in a room with classical music playing.

I also read pretty fast, though I find music to be a bit distracting. I'm pretty sure some of my reading speed comes from the fact that over time, my brain has learned to skip details that aren't neccesary. Now this doesn't really work with things like Wheel of Time, where the details matter more (Or at least, I think they do).

Also, not playing it out in real-time. Now, I do imagine the things happening, that's how I read, but also, my mind just kinda processes the information and makes it feel like it's in real time. Like, in a book, a conversation might have taken, in-world, five minutes, but happened in the real world in 30 seconds or so. Now that's not exactly advice, but I've thought about this a lot and I need to get it all out. Basically, if you get in to a book, this'll probably start happening, so... 

I guess my advice is to read a lot? (I could have just said, 'Practice' and been done, but whatever...)

[Shard of Reading he/him]

Quiet room, comfortable chair, strict orders to be left alone, a machete for anyone who doesn't listen to your previous request, and a good book.

[Spren of Kindness she/her]

It depends for me.  Sometimes I read super fast, and sometimes I don't.  I don't remember as much when I read super fast, though.

[GoWibble he/him]

I find that I have to actively concentrate if I am going to read at my top speed. Like, it takes all of my attention, everything is going into making my eyes move faster and my brain to understand the information.

4 hours ago, Random Bystander said:

It really depends. I read extremely fast. However, I miss so much of the books. I have to read and re-read books many times to catch tings other people caught on their first go. It isn't always better to read faster. But for me, I read quickest when I am alone in a quiet room, or alone in a room with classical music playing.

I totally agree. I actually did this with RoW (14.26 hours) and I feel like I missed a bunch. Because of that, I go back and read slower to get more. 

3 hours ago, Shard of Reading said:

Quiet room, comfortable chair, strict orders to be left alone, a machete for anyone who doesn't listen to your previous request, and a good book.

Do you mind if I quote you in my signature @Shard of Reading? This made my afternoon

[Shard of Reading he/him]

16 hours ago, GoWibble said:

Do you mind if I quote you in my signature @Shard of Reading? This made my afternoon

Yeah. You can do that.

[Bejarden he/him]

What helps me the most is:

Just get a comfy chair in a quiet place and just let all you worries wash away

Dont focus on each word but read it as a fluid motion. Don’t take breaks just soldier on.

This gets me like 250 pages an hour

[The One Ring she/her]

I'm a really fast reader (in my native language) I read faster than anyone I know irl, in any environment. But as other people has already pointed out, I usually skipped a bunch of things and had to reread it to remember all the details. I don't know how I first did it, I remember doing this as early as in 2nd grade. I just somehow pick out the more important word. This should be easier in English (I think) as you can just read the longer words. The most important thing is concentration, you're in the book, nowhere else. Excitement helps too, when I'm really excited, I just naturally started it. Practice is also important, the more you do this, the more you get used to it. Although this is starting to become a problem to me, while some in this thread say they can stop, I can't. When I don't concentrate, my eyes flew through the words, I missed a lot of things. When I do concentrate, I read faster, and I still missed a lot of things. This might depend on the person, but just know that there's a possibility that you won't be able to go back.

[The Unknown Order he/him]

I can read really fast with good comprehension, I sometimes miss small details, but that's fine. I read about 45 seconds per average page. For some reason I actually have better comprehension then my mom, who reads slightly slower than me. Other people suggest a chair, but for me I can do it anywhere, so just practice, maybe switch out going really fast and normal fast every page or so for variety. 

[Toothless of Shinovar]

On 2/24/2021 at 4:17 AM, roondawg valhalla said:

So I have read on and off most of my life but haven't really became an avid reader until about a year ago. My speed has increased quite a bit since I've been reading daily but I am still nowhere near as quick as some people. It takes a little over 3 hours for me to get 100 pages in. For you quick readers, are there tricks and exercises that help you read faster? Or does it all just come with experience and time? 

Technically I do read the words, my brain takes the words and absorbs them with other words creating a movie inside of my head. I do not know anyone who can read faster than me.

[danex he/him]

I’ve always been an extremely fast reader, and I’ve had to work on making myself read slower. The first time I read Oathbringer, I read super fast because I was so excited and by the end I had no idea what was happening. (I managed to avoid this with RoW by actually forcing myself to take notes.) 

The caveat to this is that I cannot make myself read if I don’t want to. I was trying to read Alloy of Law yesterday to refresh my memory, (I needed to remember what happened because of a RP I’m in.) and I couldn’t make it past the second chapter. Nothing against AoL, great book, but I’m just not in a mood to read it right now, so I literally can’t. 

So my advice for reading quick is this: Do NOT try and force it. Only read if you ABSOLUTELY want to. No thinking “well, this is my only free time, so I guess I better finish up that book” or anything like that. 

2 hours ago, Toothless of Shinover said:

Technically I do read the words, my brain takes the words and absorbs them with other words creating a movie inside of my head. I do not know anyone who can read faster than me.

OP wanted advice, not weird flexes.

[Toothless of Shinovar]

Sorry, that is true, I was not thinking properly.

[For T2]

7 hours ago, Dannex said:

I’ve always been an extremely fast reader, and I’ve had to work on making myself read slower. The first time I read Oathbringer, I read super fast because I was so excited and by the end I had no idea what was happening. (I managed to avoid this with RoW by actually forcing myself to take notes.) 

The caveat to this is that I cannot make myself read if I don’t want to. I was trying to read Alloy of Law yesterday to refresh my memory, (I needed to remember what happened because of a RP I’m in.) and I couldn’t make it past the second chapter. Nothing against AoL, great book, but I’m just not in a mood to read it right now, so I literally can’t. 

So my advice for reading quick is this: Do NOT try and force it. Only read if you ABSOLUTELY want to. No thinking “well, this is my only free time, so I guess I better finish up that book” or anything like that. 

 

Thank you, that is a great piece of advice. I feel I absorb most of what I read so I guess it's not a bad thing to take my time. I just get impressed by how fast some of you can read. 

7 hours ago, Dannex said:

OP wanted advice, not weird flexes.

LOL

[The Unknown Order he/him]

On 2/26/2021 at 8:22 AM, roondawg valhalla said:

Thank you, that is a great piece of advice. I feel I absorb most of what I read so I guess it's not a bad thing to take my time. I just get impressed by how fast some of you can read. 

I comprehend normally, I'd say much less than a minute is too fast for comprehension. 

[For T2]

15 hours ago, The Unknown Order said:

I comprehend normally, I'd say much less than a minute is too fast for comprehension. 

I take nearly 2 minutes per page, I comprehend most of what I'm reading. If I'm really enjoying a chapter or section I can breeze thru much faster with the same amount of comprehension.

[IAmTheStick]

On 2/23/2021 at 10:17 AM, Ghost of Hrathen said:

So I have read on and off most of my life but haven't really became an avid reader until about a year ago. My speed has increased quite a bit since I've been reading daily but I am still nowhere near as quick as some people. It takes a little over 3 hours for me to get 100 pages in. For you quick readers, are there tricks and exercises that help you read faster? Or does it all just come with experience and time? 

I've read heavily all my life! I never really had to work at reading pretty fast. On that note, most of my friends shun reading fast, preferring to slow down and take their time absorbing the story (especially sanderson.) I personally prefer to consolidate the story in my head by reading it multiple times. (I've read every book published by sanderson twice.) I would say practicing with different types of books is a good way to start, but it's not like I'm a trainer