Matthew Fresta is the editor of a zine called Rango Tango and is also on many episodes of Gain of Fiction, the latest being A Clockwork Orange . Follow Matt on Twitter
Attention: You’re reading this right now. You read tweets and Truth Social posts all day. You clearly can read, so why is transferring that skill to a 300 page book so difficult? You probably read a book’s worth of internet nonsense every few days. Basically it comes down to your attention. Tweets are short and sensational; you read them without even thinking about the work you are putting in to read them. But then once you crack open Crime and Punishment it feels like you are conscious of nothing else but the fact that you are labouring over words on a page. One trick I use sometimes is meditation. Sit in the bath tub, close your eyes, try to clear all thoughts and be conscious of any stimulus your mind is receiving. I’m not gonna give any deeper instructions for mindfulness here but even if you only manage to clear all the thoughts from your head for a half-second you will be much better prepared to sink into your book. Sometimes I follow this practice with a less passive form of meditation, namely I try to imagine I myself am in the fictional world of whatever book I’m reading. I imagine the setting of the story and chant mantras in my mind such as “I am on a tropical island off the coast of Costa-Rica where a mad entrepreneur has cloned long extinct predators.” Then once I open the book and start reading I kinda have a head start on the text; I am already partly immersed in the story. Go back and re-read the last page you read from your previous reading session if you have to. Again it comes back to attention, if you just read a random paragraph without any connection to the greater narrative being told your eyes can just glide over it without your brain manifesting any of it as thought images. You know how someone will post a paragraph from the middle of a book they’re reading with a caption about how important it is? And how when you read it it means nothing to you? Well, that’s because you are not immersed in that world and your brain would have to do way more work to build that world in your head for it to seem important to you. If you’ve already seen the movie then reading the book is generally easier.
Choice: A major reason most people don’t read is because they’ve picked something above their level and weren’t able to finish it and have projected this frustration onto all books. If you’re trying to cultivate a reading habit then start with something easy: a rockstar’s autobiography, classic fiction from less than a century ago or just straight up mass-market trash. The Island of Doctor Moreau, Prey, George Jones’ autobiography or Fight Club are books I’d recommend. Don’t start with Proust or Revolt Against the Modern World. Build up to those kindsa books. Also, don’t feel obliged to finish a book just because you’ve started it. Give it a solid chance, but if you just find yourself unable to get any kind of flow going then change books. You can always return to it later. I usually have a bunch of books on the go at once but I would caution against letting the stack get too big. At least at first. If you do decide to tackle a long boring book I would recommend simultaneously reading a lighter fun book to break up the tedium, you could even make a rule like “I must read 10 pages of the tedious French theory book before I can return to the Clive Barker novel.” Play around with it until you find a system that works for you. If you’re still unsure about what book to start reading then just listen to Gain of Fiction by Rare Candy for ideas.
Comfort: Nobody really acknowledges this, but reading can be physically painful. It can be hard to get into a comfortable position that doesn’t push tension into your muscles while trying to read a big heavy book. I usually try to do a couple of stretches before reading, and it’s also a good idea to get up and move around a bit every chapter or so. Just youtube “basic yoga neck back 10 mins” or something like that. Set up your reading area to make yourself as comfortable as possible and so you’re not straining anywhere while you read. The more comfortable you are the easier it is to focus on the text. I use a product called a pillow pad that is essentially a triangular prism foam pillow with a ledge that I can rest my book on in order to take most of the weight off my shoulders. They’re designed for people to use their iPads on the couch. Another great device is a pair of “lazy readers” which are reading glasses with mirrors angled at 45 degrees so you can lay on your back and read the pages without craning your neck. You can get even lazier by using a hair clip or something like that to hold the book open and free up your hands. Maybe you could even get one of those Bob Dylan harmonica holders and modify it so it can hold your kindle. Play around until you find your perfect setup.
Ambience: Maybe it’s hard for you to read because your roommates always have the news blaring from the TV or your coworkers watch TikTok videos on their phone in the lunch room at full volume. If you read long enough you’ll get better at tuning this stuff out, but for now I’d suggest putting in headphones (noise cancelling ones if you have them) and listening to music. Nothing with intelligible vocals: jazz, electro, drone, noise, classical, flamenco, new age, binaural beats, etc. You could even try match it to the vibe of your book, eg. play spaghetti western soundtracks while reading Blood Meridian. Darkthrone, Sun Ra and Skullflower are some of my goto reading artists.
Time: The most common excuse people give for not reading is that they don’t have time. Without a single exception these people spend 8 hours a day on social media. We’re all addicted to our phones and it’s just something you’re gonna have to learn to resist. Put the phone in another room if you have to and try carve out at least an hour a day for reading. Soon enough you’ll realise how much better reading books is compared to Twitter. Carry your book with you so you can read it at work or on the bus or in the doctor’s waiting room: times where you are just gonna pull out your phone and mindlessly scroll anyway.