If you’re a reader such as myself, you’ve probably also experienced the “reading slump” phenomenon. It’s this agonizing experience of wanting to read, but a mysterious and foreign force is keeping you from opening the damn book. I’ve had my fair share of reading slumps and I know many others have dealt with this frustrating experience as well. But, as someone who has gone through reading slumps a multitude of times since the age of 13, I’ve perfected my ways of working through these obstacles. Let me guide you through breaking through these!
How They Start
To get through a reading slump, it’s important to target and understand why you are currently experiencing it. There’s so many reasons as to why it occurs:
- You just read (what you believe to be) the best novel ever created, to which you’re nervous to pick up another book in fear it won’t live up to the hype of your previous one.
- You just DNFed (did not finish) a book, and could be slightly traumatized from a writing style/plot that you just did not vibe with.
- After reading many books of similar plots and genres, you feel slightly burned out.
- It’s possible you’ve entered a new routine, such as classes starting up or a new job and because of this, you’ve had less and less time for personal reading time.Â
- Plus, a million more reasons because everyone is different.
After targeting the initial reason, now we can work on reworking and hyping up our brain to move on and get back into it. Let’s get into a few ways to work over it.
Try a New Genre
Sometimes, reading slumps occur due to getting bored of reading identical plots and characters, just in different colors and under different names. For example, if you’ve read fifteen hockey romance novels in a row, I’m sure your brain is going to start protesting the next one.Â
Try something new!
Personally, when I find myself in a random reading slump, I love to expand genres. I have a bad habit of sticking to one genre for a period of time, and when I find myself slowing down I take it as my brain yelling at me for a switch up. So, if you’ve been reading a million thriller books and you find yourself mentally protesting the next one, I say open up a Romance novel or even a Sci-Fi one!
Create an Ambiance
At times, what’s holding you back from jumping into a book is simply your environment. Turn off your overhead lights and turn on your lamps. Grab the softest and largest blanket you own. Play some relaxing music (whether it be jazz, piano, rain sounds, etc). And grab a novel on your to-be-read list or currently reading. Lastly, fully immerse yourself.Â
Warning: You could end up reading for hours and hours. So, make sure to try this on a day with no later commitments.
Mark Your Calendars
If you find yourself too worked up in a job or classes that you have no time to indulge in your personal readings, I’d recommend you make reading part of your routine. Now, this doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s always good to try it out. On a day where you seem less busy or have a break, assign yourself a designated hour or two for you to relax and pick up a book.Â
If you feel as if this takes the fun out of it, feel free to try any of these other options. Yet, for some people, sometimes sticking personal time on a calendar reminds you to actually relax and do the things you’ve been wanting to do, such as reading.
Pick up a Comfort Novel
Every reader has that one book that truly speaks to their soul – that one book that no matter how many times you’ve read it, it never gets old. When in a reading slump, sometimes the only way to knock yourself out of it is to remind yourself of the joys and love reading gives you.Â
For me, I have a few comfort novels/graphic novels that I find myself reaching towards in my slump moments:
- The Princess and the Grilled Cheese by Deya Muniz
- I Had That Same Dream Again by Yoru Sumino
- Actually any book by Yoru Sumino (she’s my ultimate comfort author)
- A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (and yes, all 13 books)
Think about your own comfort books, and when you notice yourself just not feeling good and not being as active of a reader, pick these up and let yourself immerse in worlds you already know and love.
Reading is my, and I know many other’s, favorite hobby. Yet, even as a favorite hobby, I can go weeks (sometimes even a month or two) without picking up a book at all. With classes starting up and my anxiety being all over the place, I am unfortunately in a reading slump, but simply talking about the ways to fight it is already getting me excited to pick up a book again. You can take my advice or completely ignore me, but if you want just a little help in a reading slump, come back to this and try out one or many of these methods.Â