"It was the best of times, it was the..." best of naps.
Okay. so let's just go ahead and start this simple enough, with a question. And I'll probably do a series of small posts too from here, hopefully. If you see a post that isn't the newest one, but you still have something to contribute, the window of opportunity to reply doesn't close -- feel free to post. [I'll make note of that in my bio too.]
... but let's go to the question at hand.
To the avid and quick readers of novels here (and I know there are at least a few here -- you folks that have posted about finishing those thick Harry Potter books in a matter of a few days), how exactly do you successfully set yourself up for long, uninterrupted periods of reading?
There are several books that I want to read -- books that other folks recommend highly; books that sound interesting to me. And I feel somewhat out of the loop when a big discussion on a certain book erupts. [Heh -- it's a bit of peer pressure to read more -- a lot of you guys read regularly, and I don't as of yet. It's something I would like to do regularly, though.]
But when I try to sit down with a novel to read it, I always end up getting too comfortable -- and a few pages in, I end up falling asleep, no matter how interesting the content. And I do this repeatedly, in several postures. [It happens with a lot of other physically-passive activities, too.] As several folks can attest, I'm cursed with the ability to sleep in several visibly-uncomfortable positions.
Part of that problem might just be that I get distracted with tangents resulting from the content of the book -- maybe a question like, "How would I react in a similar situation?", or maybe a flight-of-fancy into the detailed environment, or maybe something else entirely. Maybe that's not a bad thing, necessarily, but it's stuff that can easily transition my faculties into taking a nap. (I can fall asleep easier if I keep my mind occupied on trivial things -- which I often do anyway. Does that explain my napping curse, I wonder?) It's also indicative of an issue that I could do better in applying focus in just finishing the book. That's my own problem to sort out, though.
[With a movie, the plot forcibly progresses at a certain pace, and the viewer has to take action to pause. With a book, progression requires effort on the part of the reader -- or at least on my part -- so it's easier to just rest and mentally mess around with what I've got so far at a given point. There's a medium -- plot-oriented video games -- where action can be forcibly progressed at a certain pace, but if there's time to explore a potentially-interesting environment, I'll do so. Although, such games are the most physically-active form of plot-oriented seated entertainment I engage in (assuming a plot, at least). I can also sleep through movies quite soundly, even if I find them really entertaining -- and the movie will go on without regard to my state of consciousness.]
... when those tangents don't necessarily happen, though -- or even if they do -- the other part of the problem is that I do just get too comfortable.
I could probably use some pointers from those who've had more success in reading regularly for pleasure. So, how do you do it?
(Hrm... maybe that wasn't as quick-and-dirty a post as I was planning on it being.)
... but let's go to the question at hand.
To the avid and quick readers of novels here (and I know there are at least a few here -- you folks that have posted about finishing those thick Harry Potter books in a matter of a few days), how exactly do you successfully set yourself up for long, uninterrupted periods of reading?
There are several books that I want to read -- books that other folks recommend highly; books that sound interesting to me. And I feel somewhat out of the loop when a big discussion on a certain book erupts. [Heh -- it's a bit of peer pressure to read more -- a lot of you guys read regularly, and I don't as of yet. It's something I would like to do regularly, though.]
But when I try to sit down with a novel to read it, I always end up getting too comfortable -- and a few pages in, I end up falling asleep, no matter how interesting the content. And I do this repeatedly, in several postures. [It happens with a lot of other physically-passive activities, too.] As several folks can attest, I'm cursed with the ability to sleep in several visibly-uncomfortable positions.
Part of that problem might just be that I get distracted with tangents resulting from the content of the book -- maybe a question like, "How would I react in a similar situation?", or maybe a flight-of-fancy into the detailed environment, or maybe something else entirely. Maybe that's not a bad thing, necessarily, but it's stuff that can easily transition my faculties into taking a nap. (I can fall asleep easier if I keep my mind occupied on trivial things -- which I often do anyway. Does that explain my napping curse, I wonder?) It's also indicative of an issue that I could do better in applying focus in just finishing the book. That's my own problem to sort out, though.
[With a movie, the plot forcibly progresses at a certain pace, and the viewer has to take action to pause. With a book, progression requires effort on the part of the reader -- or at least on my part -- so it's easier to just rest and mentally mess around with what I've got so far at a given point. There's a medium -- plot-oriented video games -- where action can be forcibly progressed at a certain pace, but if there's time to explore a potentially-interesting environment, I'll do so. Although, such games are the most physically-active form of plot-oriented seated entertainment I engage in (assuming a plot, at least). I can also sleep through movies quite soundly, even if I find them really entertaining -- and the movie will go on without regard to my state of consciousness.]
... when those tangents don't necessarily happen, though -- or even if they do -- the other part of the problem is that I do just get too comfortable.
I could probably use some pointers from those who've had more success in reading regularly for pleasure. So, how do you do it?
(Hrm... maybe that wasn't as quick-and-dirty a post as I was planning on it being.)