Do you want to read faster? If yes, then you can achieve it by learning to speed read. However speed reading methods are usually meant for reading different job-related texts. It means that these techniques can be efficiently used for reading various reports, manuals, handbooks, e-mails, journals, textbooks etc. Those kinds of texts are usually written with the purpose of delivering information, while creating feelings and pleasure for the reader is not the goal of these texts. Reading a sales report shouldn’t make your frightened as reading a thriller.
If we read texts on the job then the aim is to obtain information for making decisions. We read e-mails for communicating with our clients, partners and co-workers. We read them for getting information about products, events, other people’s ideas and so on. We read reports for getting information about the results of different projects, overview of the market situation or a marketing campaign. When we are reading those materials, then our aim is to become better informed for making decisions and we are not looking for pleasure and entertainment.
But what about fiction books? What is our motive for reading them? Is it about getting information? Yes, it is, but not only. We read them for leisure and we want to feel relaxed and happy. We want emotions. Before going to discuss how to speed read these books I would ask a question: “Do we really want to read them fast?” In case of job-related reading it is clear that we want to be productive and finish our job-tasks early, but when reading for leisure then why should we hurry. Usually people will say that they do not have much time for reading the books they want to read and if they could read faster they could read more. While this is true, does reading more books people happier or you will be happier when you will get more emotions and pleasure from a smaller number of books. It is up to you to decide.
If you want to speed read fiction books then you have to keep your emotions down and have to concentrate to the book. Keep your thought on the storyline and do not let your mind to wonder. Avoid picturing the action and place you read in your mind. It will slow you down. Just read on.
It will be more difficult to apply some speed reading methods such as making a preview to fiction books. The problem is that these texts have not so clear structure. It can happen that a 500 page novel is not broken into chapters. Furthermore, authors usually do not emphasize the main points as the idea is that the reader has to find it out himself. Of course, it depends on the author and his style, but in case of fiction there is usually just a storyline and there is the author is not emphasizing of the main ideas repetitively as it is the case for textbooks.
For some types of texts such as poetry, using speed reading is completely pointless. For many types of fiction books it is applicable, but keep in mind that being able to speed read does not mean that you have to apply these skills every time you read. Being a fast reader means that you are flexible about choosing your reading speed, it does not mean that you have to always rush through the texts.
