# Do you read every word?



## jackwestjr_author (Aug 19, 2010)

I certainly don't.  As the plot thickens when I am reaching the tell I can't be bothered to read every word.  I speed up to find out what happens.  In every other aspect of my life I am patient and methodical, but I just can't help myself when reading a good book.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

I read every word.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I try to, but if I miss some I'll go back and pick them up later.

Mike


Real answer: I'm not conscious of skipping any words, but I probably do.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

i read it all.


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## dawnflight1984 (Aug 21, 2009)

I think I skip many words. Especially in good books, because I end up rereading them after I finish reading it and realise I am reading it as if for the first time in many cases because I find myself wondering why it seems as though I haven't read certain sentences before even though I have read the entire book already. Then again, I may be skipping words in everything I read, but it is obvious in books I like because I reread them!


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## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

I never skip.  If I start wanting to skip words that's when I want to put the book down.

Dawn


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

If I'm going to read a book, I read every word. How else am I going to get the whole story  

Sandy


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

The journey is at least as important as the destination.

Every word.


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## DavidRM (Sep 21, 2010)

Most of the time: Yes. But some of the time: no.

Maybe it's the editor in my head, or maybe, like jackwestjr mentioned, I get impatient when something I anticipate is looming, but I can usually spot filler description and tend to skip it.

I use the same mental warning flag when editing my own work. If I find I'm skimming my own text, I either need to beef it up or rip it out.

-David


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I skip words all the time. I often have to go back and re-read a paragraph because I missed something important.


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## Julia (Jul 30, 2010)

Dawn McCullough White said:


> I never skip. If I start wanting to skip words that's when I want to put the book down.
> 
> Dawn


Same for me. If I'm starting to skip it's because I'm bored and just want to get the darn thing over with.


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## Tip10 (Apr 16, 2009)

I read every word - or at least I think I do.
If I'm tired I'll start skimming words and end up having to go back and re-read the page -- usually though I'll give up and put the book down after reading the same page 2 or 3 times!

However I what I am guilty of is substituting names -- if a book has a names that I either cannot pronounce or is a complete mouthful or is extremely long I have a habit of using a "nickname" -- usually something derived from the characters name itself but sometimes not. Tends to get me in trouble if I try and read passages out loud....


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

The speed at which I read is dependent on how much I'm enjoying what I'm reading. The more that I enjoy something the slower that I read, the more focused on enunciation that I am, and the more care I take in understanding what I'm reading. If I find that I'm skipping words then it's a clear indication that I want to be done with the book so much that I'm not caring about actually reading it, as such I consider it a kiss of death for a book.


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## Gone 9/21/18 (Dec 11, 2008)

I skip description if there's too much for me and it doesn't always mean I don't like the rest of the book. And occasionally I've been so caught up in wanting to know how things come out I skip or skim to get to the ending faster. Sometimes those books are good enough I reread them more slowly another time.


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## Kathelm (Sep 27, 2010)

For me it depends on the writer's efficiency.  If every word counts, I read every word.  If the author has a tendency to restate things, or give excessive detail or analysis, my eyes start drifting.


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## Addie (Jun 10, 2009)

Dawn McCullough White said:


> I never skip. If I start wanting to skip words that's when I want to put the book down.
> 
> Dawn


Same for me.


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

I figure the author put them there in that particular order for a reason, so I might as well use them all.


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## Oneironaut (May 18, 2010)

I agree with the OP.  When the book starts getting tense, and I want to find out what happens, I'll start skipping words to read faster.


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## Alice Y. Yeh (Jul 14, 2010)

If I'm starting to skim, it means that I'm getting bored. I tend to read every word, though my mind might start rephrasing certain sentences for the sake of my sanity ("If I were" v. "If I was").


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

Dawn McCullough White said:


> I never skip. If I start wanting to skip words that's when I want to put the book down.
> 
> Dawn


Same here. If I find that I start skimming words then I know I need to either put the book down and try something else or put the book down as one I just may not finish (which is rare for me).


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

Nope, I am a skimmer!

I learned to read when I was about four and I can distinctly remember at age 5 reading the parts of _The Wind in the Willows_ I understood-- those of course, being the bits about the Mole and the Rat and most of all, Mr. Toad--and skimming blithely over the rest!

This evening, seventy-one years after the first reading of _The Wind in the Willows_, I caught myself skimming great chunks of _Gone with the Wind_ in DTB form, no less-- to get to the good stuff.

Patrisha


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> I skip words all the time. I often have to go back and re-read a paragraph because I missed something important.


Me too.


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> I skip words all the time. I often have to go back and re-read a paragraph because I missed something important.


 Yep! I don't bother going back with a book I am reading for relaxation, but if I am studying, I HAVE to slow myself down and write a summary every few paragraphs because I read so fast that I miss a lot.

Patrisha


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Usually, yes.  But if I run across sections of too much detail or backstory, I may skim those and read on until the action picks up again.


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## jackwestjr_author (Aug 19, 2010)

Patricia, now you have me curious about The Wind in the Willows.  If it has left such a lasting impression on you perhaps my young son and daughter would enjoy it too.  Off to Amazon search after this to see about that.

Did anyone comment on whether genre has anything to do with your word skipping practice?  Would you skip words when reading poetry, for example?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Finished a book yesterday where I think I read about 1/3 of the words. . . honestly there were times where I did no more than skim several pages in a row. . . the author simply couldn't use one simple word where a fancy one or a whole phrase would do. . .it got extremely tedious. . . . .especially since every scene had scads of useless dialog or 'not germane to the plot' description. . . .And then. . . .about 85% in, he learned the solution to the mystery. . .but it took him until about 95% to realize it. . . .it was just silly.  One star all the way.


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## tanstaafl28 (Oct 10, 2010)

jackwestjr_author said:


> I certainly don't. As the plot thickens when I am reaching the tell I can't be bothered to read every word. I speed up to find out what happens. In every other aspect of my life I am patient and methodical, but I just can't help myself when reading a good book.


I do not read every single word, my eyes may go over them all, but my mind only really "sees" the context words, if that makes any sense.

I do remember from my undergrad course in developmental reading that, reading comprehension is more about gleaning the "main idea" of each sentence and paragraph, not actively reading every single word.

Having said this, every reader develops their own unique "style," so it's not like one method is any "better" than another. Whatever works best for you.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

tanstaafl28 said:


> I do not read every single word, my eyes may go over them all, but my mind only really "sees" the context words, if that makes any sense.
> 
> I do remember from my undergrad course in developmental reading that, reading comprehension is more about gleaning the "main idea" of each sentence and paragraph, not actively reading every single word.
> 
> Having said this, every reader develops their own unique "style," so it's not like one method is any "better" than another. Whatever works best for you.


That's true. It's fascinating how the mind processes words that we aren't actually aware of having seen. That's the essence of speed reading.



Ann in Arlington said:


> Finished a book yesterday where I think I read about 1/3 of the words. . . honestly there were times where I did no more than skim several pages in a row. . . the author simply couldn't use one simple word where a fancy one or a whole phrase would do. . .it got extremely tedious. . . . .especially since every scene had scads of useless dialog or 'not germane to the plot' description. . . .And then. . . .about 85% in, he learned the solution to the mystery. . .but it took him until about 95% to realize it. . . .it was just silly. One star all the way.


Those are the kinds of books that I rarely finish, Ann. I'm extremely patient, but not when reading a book like that.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

tanstaafl28 said:


> I do remember from my undergrad course in developmental reading that, reading comprehension is more about gleaning the "main idea" of each sentence and paragraph, not actively reading every single word.


True, and that's why I skim "required reading" for school, or anything else I have to read for _content only_, like a manual or a professional newsletter.

If I'm reading something just for myself, I'm doing it for _enjoyment_, so then I don't skip anything. If I find myself skimming in the first ten pages, I don't read the book.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Cindy416 said:


> That's true. It's fascinating how the mind processes words that we aren't actually aware of having seen. That's the essence of speed reading.
> 
> Those are the kinds of books that I rarely finish, Ann. I'm extremely patient, but not when reading a book like that.


Yeah. . . . I debated just giving up on it. . .but by halfway in I did want to know what had happened to the missing guy. . . .and since I was only reading every third page -- if that -- it went really quickly.

The most annoying bit was when the answer was revealed. . .he didn't realize it -- and he's been billed throughout the book as this really really smart guy. . . .I mean, it was obvious to me and I'd hardly paid attention to most of what had gone on. . . .fortunately, I'd gotten the book as a freebie giveaway. Sadly, I just checked, and it's now for sale at $9.60.

But I digress. . . . .The book I read before that, _Sacred Hearts_ by Sarah Dunant, I read every word of that -- it was a very good story, very well written, with a satisfying ending.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> But I digress. . . . .The book I read before that, _Sacred Hearts_ by Sarah Dunant, I read every word of that -- it was a very good story, very well written, with a satisfying ending.


That's definitely the sign of a well-written book. I remember the first time that I read my favorite books. I simply could not skim over words. The sheer beauty of the writing made me want to read everything. One of my favorite books, _The Prince of Tides_, is a perfect example of this. Pat Conroy's writing is absolutely wonderful, and I didn't want to miss a word.


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## sherylb (Oct 27, 2008)

I do skim but I'm not really aware of it at the time. 
I have started books and realized a couple of pages in that I am really enjoying the writing, and have gone back to the beginning to consciously slow down and read every word. Unfortunately, there are many books that I just don't care enough about to do that with.


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## farmwife (Oct 10, 2010)

I rarely read every single word in a book.  I usually find myself skipping paragraph-long descriptions of what someone is wearing or a description of rooms in a house.  These descriptions rarely enhance the plot, and I want to get to the action.


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## DLs Niece (Apr 12, 2010)

I pretty much read every word, unless the author drags a description etc far beyond what is necessary for the story.


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## JoeMitchell (Jun 6, 2010)

I never knowingly skip a word, unless maybe its something I've already read before, and even then it's not something I think I would do.  If I ever felt a strong enough urge to skip, I'd probably just stop reading that book entirely.


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## tanstaafl28 (Oct 10, 2010)

Addendum: 

I should like to mention that it is mostly fiction that I speed read. I do not find it any less enjoyable to do so. 

Reading non-fiction usually requires a far more painstaking approach. I often have to reread passages of non-fiction (particularly if its highly technical).


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

If I am reading fiction for pleasure, I read every word. In fact, I essentially "hear" every word as if I were reading aloud. Part of the pleasure is the words themselves. However, if it's a book I'm not enjoying, I may start skimming in areas where it gets really uninspiring if I'm still interested enough to find out what is going to happen (as opposed to just giving up totally), but that is very rare.

Non fiction is another story (no pun intended), and depending on the type of book and how it's written, I may skip/skim sections that don't particularly interest me. However, that depends more on the subject matter and how it is written, e.g. a programming reference book is going to get a lot of skimming, while a captivating, well-written biography will likely get the every word treatment.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

If I am rereading books that I like and know well, I find that I skim to get to the good (to me) parts.With a new book, I usually read every word, like NogDog, 'hearing' the words.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

If it's a book I'm really into, I do read every word.  The only time I start skimming is when I get bored with paragraphs of description, or pages of stuff that doesn't move the story forward.  So, for me, it really depends on my interest level.  Keep the story moving, and I'm hooked and won't skip a thing.

Vicki


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## Ty Johnston (Jun 19, 2009)

I read every word. Or at least I think I do. Sometimes I read faster than others, and often that has to do with the style of writing.


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## JoeMitchell (Jun 6, 2010)

I'm just amazed at the amount of skimming admitted to here.  Maybe I'm lucky to have chosen books that don't overload the reader with description to the point where the reader wants to skip paragraphs.  I would feel like I was cheating myself out of the whole story if I skipped anything.

Here's an example.  One of my favorite authors, Stephen King, wrote a book that I really enjoyed and really hated at the same time.  It was called Dreamcatcher, and it was about a group of old friends who get together for a hunting trip, and stumble into an alien invasion and government coverup near their isolated wilderness cabin.  The story was roughly divided into two stories, the past and the present, very VERY much like my favorite book of his, "It".  Unlike 'It' though, the story of what happened to the characters in the past didn't grab me.  I loved the parts that took place in the present, but every time he went back to the past it just grated on me...this is trying too hard to be like 'It', I thought, and it's not at all compelling.  I actually wanted to skip ahead during those parts, to get to the good stuff with aliens and surviving in the cold wilderness.  I couldn't skip ahead though.  It was impossible for me to do that, so eventually I just lost interest and stopped reading the book.  It's probably the only book of his that I never finished.  I later saw the movie though, and it resolved pretty much as I'd expected.  I'd rather just put a book down and admit that I didn't really read it than skip ahead and pretend that I did.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

JoeMitchell said:


> I'm just amazed at the amount of skimming admitted to here. Maybe I'm lucky to have chosen books that don't overload the reader with description to the point where the reader wants to skip paragraphs.


My interpretation of the OP's point is that he skims when he likes a book and is engrossed because he can't wait to find out what happens next. I've done that on occasion. Skimming because the writer is drowning you in a sea of exposition is another matter entirely.


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## sherylb (Oct 27, 2008)

JoeMitchell said:


> I'd rather just put a book down and admit that I didn't really read it than skip ahead and pretend that I did.


It's not a matter of "pretending" to read a book, I think it is more a matter of reading styles. Everyone reads differently.


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## Kathelm (Sep 27, 2010)

Agreed.  That's a bit like saying you only pretended to look at a painting if you didn't notice every detail.


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## kindlegrl81 (Jan 19, 2010)

I found myself doing that a lot with DTBs; a word on the other page would catch my eye and I would skip ahead.  Now that I read on a Kindle I don't do it anymore.


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

I try to read every word, but with one particular series (I won't name names, but let's just say there's a movie version out of it and Stephen King said (summed up to) that author was no writer) I just couldn't.  I was dying from boredom.  The drippy words, the slow moving action, it was tedious and I just couldn't do it.  I'd skim, hoping to find a good part and the good parts just wouldn't come.  It was worse as the series continued.  What hurt most was all of my friends begged me to read this series, saying it was greatest story ever told, EVER.  I tried to like it ... I really did.  But it just didn't do it for me.  I finished them all saying, 'This is it?'  

Shudder ...


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Did you read this book at, I dunno, twilight?


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

MichelleR said:


> Did you read this book at, I dunno, twilight?


LOL,


Spoiler



twilight perhaps, during a new moon, after an eclipse, or if my memory serves me correct, it was just about breaking dawn.


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## AlanBaxter (Sep 1, 2009)

jackwestjr_author said:


> I certainly don't. As the plot thickens when I am reaching the tell I can't be bothered to read every word. I speed up to find out what happens. In every other aspect of my life I am patient and methodical, but I just can't help myself when reading a good book.


Are you kidding? What's the point in reading at all - just read the last page of every book and save your time. The whole journey, the ride the author takes you on, is all part of the deal. I couldn't imagine skipping to the end.


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## PraiseGod13 (Oct 27, 2008)

Every.... single....word.  If I'm hurrying too much and know I've skipped a word.... I have to go back.


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## terryr (Apr 24, 2010)

It depends on the story. If the story starts to lose me... I'll skip. If it doesn't get better, I stop. If it gets better, I'll go back to what I skipped.


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## Carolyn J. Rose Mystery Writer (Aug 10, 2010)

When I come across huge patches of narrative, I generally skip over it hunting for dialogue and action. If I feel I missed something vital, I go back.


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

I do both - read every word & skim & skip. I usually read every word with fiction. For non-fiction, I'll skim & skip. If I am listening to the book, using TTS & realize that I wasn't paying attention or I was interruped for the umpteenth time, I'll decide to either continue or stop & go back & repeat those pages. I've only had 1 book, where I was very distracted while listening to it & I decided to just read it again, not using TTS.


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## jackwestjr_author (Aug 19, 2010)

Whew!  When this thread started I felt a little guilty having outed myself.  As others have chimed in I take comfort that I am not alone.


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## AlanBaxter (Sep 1, 2009)

I'm stunned. I can't believe there are people out there that skip and skim. If I started doing that it would be because the book was boring or badly written and in that case I'd put it away. Life's too short for bad books. If I was enjoying a book I'd want to savour every word. There are all kinds of people, I guess.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

AlanBaxter said:


> I'm stunned. I can't believe there are people out there that skip and skim. If I started doing that it would be because the book was boring or badly written and in that case I'd put it away. Life's too short for bad books. If I was enjoying a book I'd want to savour every word. There are all kinds of people, I guess.


I, for one, love to savor every word of a well-written book. I do find myself skimming a bit through books that I find to be poorly written. I usually quit reading such books. There are way too many books on my TBR list to waste time on books that are an effort to read.


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## DaronFraley (Sep 27, 2010)

I agree that a poorly written book can make me skim. One book I read this year was so incredibly dull that I read about 30 pages, then started to skim to see if it got better. It didn't. I finally put it down.

But that is not always the reason I have skimmed sections in my reading. Just today, I found myself skimming a page in Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. Not because it is a poorly written book filled with bad storytelling. Quite to the contrary. I am getting near the end, and the story is so good that I found I was rushing through it. I was trying to figure out what one character was going to do now that the world fell down around their ears.

That is also a sign of a good author, in my opinion. Shame on me for cheating on that page. I went back and re-read it.


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## Learnmegood (Jun 20, 2009)

I almost always read every word.


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## kindleworm (Aug 24, 2010)

I read every word.  Reading every word is a good part of the joy of reading for me.  I am not trying to read as many books as quickly as I possibly can.  I like to relax and enjoy the ride.


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 7, 2010)

I read every word, at least the first time through. Sometimes when I re-read, I skip parts.  

The only books I didn't read pretty much every word was when I was reading the Antia Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. With them I enjoyed the action and characters and plot, but then the author got more onto the sexual aspects than the storyline, and I began to skim and skip--then I quit reading them because I wasn't reading vast expanses of the text.


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## jackwestjr_author (Aug 19, 2010)

DaronFraley said:


> But that is not always the reason I have skimmed sections in my reading. Just today, I found myself skimming a page in Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. Not because it is a poorly written book filled with bad storytelling. Quite to the contrary. I am getting near the end, and the story is so good that I found I was rushing through it. I was trying to figure out what one character was going to do now that the world fell down around their ears.


A man after my own heart.


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## Rai Aren (Apr 26, 2009)

Good topic!

I am fascinated by writing & language, so I do read every word (with the very rare exception of when I pick up a book that doesn't suit my tastes, then I stop reading it & give it to a friend or donate it). When I do enjoy a story, I want to soak up every bit of it. I see a good piece of writing as kind of a work of art. I like to study its precision - often an author has very specific reasons for choosing the particular words, sentence structure, length of chapters, rhythm of the story, etc. I want to discover that, to see what it communicates to me.

To share an example of just how dedicated I am when reading something I value, I read every single word of J.R.R. Tolkien's *The Silmarillion*. I am huge Tolkien fan, and love *The Lord of the Rings* trilogy so much that I had to read more - anything related to that wonderful world. It was one of the most challenging books I have read because of its language and style, but I read every single word. It was a rewarding experience.

It's very interesting to see how different people feel about this topic. The experience of reading is a very personal one... 

Rai


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## chiffchaff (Dec 19, 2008)

Cindy416 said:


> I, for one, love to savor every word of a well-written book. I do find myself skimming a bit through books that I find to be poorly written. I usually quit reading such books. There are way too many books on my TBR list to waste time on books that are an effort to read.


that's pretty much how I feel too. If I'm skimming, it's a sign I should quit reading the book altogether. I do find myself reading faster when I'm really anxious to find out what happens next, but resist skimming even then. It's just one step away from peeking at the ending, which satisfies my curiosity but ruins the rest of the book for me. Just one of my quirks.


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## ClickNextPage (Oct 15, 2009)

Selcien said:


> If I find that I'm skipping words then it's a clear indication that I want to be done with the book so much that I'm not caring about actually reading it, as such I consider it a kiss of death for a book.


Exactly.


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## Glenn Bullion (Sep 28, 2010)

I was reading a good zombie book yesterday, and found myself skimming through a chapter.

Still a great book, but we have a seriously stereotyped character that he dwelled on for a chapter, and I felt I could probably skim through it and still know what ended up happening.  Turned out I was right.  Also got to a lot of crazy science with big words I couldn't understand, in a zombie book.  Weird decision there, but it's picking back up now.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I just started a book last night. . .I'm not sure I'll finish it.  It shows promise. . .but there's an awful lot of extraneous description for my taste.  Also 'witty banter'. . . .and not just a couple of back-and-forth clever quips between characters who are good friends. . . .like a whole page of them.  And then the author had to explain that they do this every time they meet. 

Anyway, I did find myself skimming large sections because I could see it was all just further description that I didn't see the need for.  

It's also clear that there's a 'main character' who must be on hand for the bulk of the action. . .but he starts out, literally, on the other side of the world. . .the reason why he's traveling to the location, so he just happens to be in the right place at the right time, has not, so far, rung true to me.

Anyway, I'm at 21%. . . I'll give it to 30 but won't be surprised if I decide to bail at that point.  But, hey!  it could get good!


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## RobertMarda (Oct 19, 2010)

I read every word.  I've read some books more than once and each time, I read every word.  If it is a book I enjoy I read every word so that I am less likely to miss anything.  Some books, I find are packed with so much that I understand things differently each time I read them even though I read every word.

If the book has too long of a stretch that is not interesting I stop reading the book and don't worry about nor care how it ends.  I figure if it got this way once it will probably do it again.  So I just go and find a different book to read, one that won't disappoint me.


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## nmg222 (Sep 14, 2010)

I usually read every word...until I came to 'The Gate House' by Nelson Demille.  I skimmed more than I read but kept skimming until the end to see if anything was going to happen.  740 pages later, not much happened.  Terribly disappointing since it was the sequel to one of my favorites, 'The Gold Coast'.  Brutal book.


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

There are times I've skimmed, but for the most part, on my books, I read every word. I enjoy the too few times I have long stretches to read. Especially the endings of fun books go nicely if you can go through them with few interruptions. Echo Burning by Lee Child, Vixen 03 by Clive Cussler and many others have been a blast for me, and I didn't skip any.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

I love Stephen King, but sometimes he goes off on tangents for a page or two, and I've found I can skim them without losing part of the story.


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## Consuelo Saah Baehr (Aug 27, 2010)

No.  In fact, sometimes I get impatient, especially in a mystery or thriller and only scan. This brings me to an interesting theory.  When I was in a "literary" writing group, it was all about the "writing,"  finding just the right metaphor.  I remember one that I wrote at the time that has stayed with me.  "Her face was so angular and thin it looked like it hurt when she widened her mouth to make vowel sounds."  That sort of thing was important to our group but as I read, I realize a painful fact:  you want the story to move along and anything that doesn't contribute to that movement becomes an impediment.

We can't fall in love with our "good lines" at the expense of the reader.  So, if the reader is skipping, it means you didn't move fast enough.  The reader is always right.


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## Julie Christensen (Oct 13, 2010)

When the plot gets really, really good, I will skim a paragraph or two, but then I try to pull back, close the book or kindle, calm down, and go back and read every word.  Sometimes, when the plot is a real page turner, I'll cover the next paragraph with my hand so I don't jump ahead.


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

Julie Christensen said:


> Sometimes, when the plot is a real page turner, I'll cover the next paragraph with my hand so I don't jump ahead.


Increasing the text size helps ... you won't have to cover the page with your hand then ...


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

I sometimes skip.  Generally it's when reading a romance and the sex scene just goes on and on.  And on.  And on.  More than a page and I'm skipping ahead to the action.  The other action


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Arkali said:


> I sometimes skip. Generally it's when reading a romance and the sex scene just goes on and on. And on. And on. More than a page and I'm skipping ahead to the action. The other action


I hope that doesn't carry over into real life. I'm imagining you checking your watch, asking "How much longer are you going to be?"


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## AuthorTerry (Aug 13, 2010)

I tend to gloss over long descriptive passages (which is probably why I struggle to write descriptions) and I also speed up if there are long, detailed chase/fight scenes because I'm more interested in the outcome. However, I do spend more time now that I've written books, because I know how I stress to get every word "right" and since I have to write them all, I'm hoping people read them all as well. Any time I skim, I try to analyze why, and use it to tighten my own writing.


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## Robert Tell Author (Aug 17, 2010)

I honestly TRY to read every word because if the author wrote it it might be important. Sometimes when I've skipped, I've missed something that confused my understanding of the plot and I've had to go back to find what I missed. A big time waster and something that certainly interferes with the momentum of the story. I do fail sometimes to stick to my determination to read everything and if I notice myself doing that a lot in a given book I'll usually decide to put it aside.


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

I read every word and sometimes I read some of them twice, if I'm tired, and have to go back!


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## monkeyluis (Oct 17, 2010)

Every word. I put voices & emphasis to make it feel more real in my head, to get me into the scene.


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