Write what you read
I just read my second book this year, Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time. As I closed the book, I had all kinds of thoughts about it, as I usually do. Normally, I’d ignore them and move on, but I want to change that.
One of my long-held goals is to linger on my reading1. I want to take my time to enjoy a book more thoroughly, consolidate my thoughts about it, and reflect on how it affected me.
One of my pitfalls is jumping straight into the next book after finishing another. The temptation to dive into a new book is hard to resist. But moving on without pausing prevents a book from affecting you. Reading with more intent, unfortunately, means reading fewer books.
It took me a while to commit to reading less, but how can I make the time I linger on a book more fruitful?
I tried taking notes, SQ3R, drawing mind maps—they were too rigid. Rigidity destroys the joy I get from an activity, which I’ve previously experienced with blogging and journaling. So I arrived at another approach: writing.
I’m experimenting with writing short posts about the books I’ve read.
Writing is thinking. It’s a great way to crystallize nebulous thoughts. Writing forces you to dig deeper, to serialize thoughts into a cohesive whole, flowing from top to bottom.
Writing for a (fictional) audience incentivizes you to do the best you can. The beauty is that you reap the benefits even if you never hit publish.
But where to begin? I like to start with these questions to reflect on a book:
- Why did I want to read this book?
- Did it deliver?
- What did I like or dislike about it?
- What stood out about it?
- How has it affected me?
I’m curious to find out if this approach helps me read with more intent and linger on my books. Let’s find out.
I’d love to hear if this worked for you, or if you have tips for me to deepen my reading!
"Lingering" is a term that stuck with me after reading a few works of Byung-Chul Han, such as The Scent of Time, The Burnout Society, and Vita Contemplativa. Most of Han’s work revolves around slowing down—something I obviously struggle with in my reading.↩