Reader's Block: What Happens When You Stop Reading - and How To Kick-Start It Again

Reader’s block is something all of us might recognise. Like writer’s block, where you sit looking at a blank page and despair because your mind is likewise empty of ideas, with reader’s block you’re looking at pages filled with words and you just simply can’t get into reading them. It’s like lacking the key to enter a magical world. Narnia is before you...but the wardrobe door’s stuck.

So here’s how it started. Some good intentions. A healthy stack of prize winning literary efforts intermingled with a couple of bestsellers and charity shop finds. A whole summer’s worth of lazy hours to linger over the pages, in a variety of sunshine soaked places.  A reader’s dream come true.

So what went wrong? A few weeks later and I’ve barely read anything. True, I’ve grazed a couple of chapters here and there. I read a beautifully composed and insightful first chapter of “H is For Hawk” by Helen McDonald, winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2014. Mainly, however, I’ve read a couple of magazines. And a handful of blog posts. All my books are just hanging around the place, brooding and looking at me warily, like I’ve grown too big for my boots and have been dangerously branching out on my own, and they might have to challenge me to a climatic lip sync battle just to sort things out.

I’m supposed to be a reader. This is what I do. I work in a library and now run a book club. You can’t get much more bookish than that. So, how have I lost my way? Thinking it over,  I decided that, actually, this could be a great opportunity.

Over the past couple of years I’ve helped promote reading and literacy. I’ve joined the book club, written reviews, and debated the merits of various novels. I’ve also merrily signed people up for Six Book Challenge, the confidence-boosting literacy scheme championed by the Reading Agency, and I’ve helped organise creative writing workshops and all sorts of events. I knew all the really good, fabulous and incredible reasons why I read, and why I thought it would be a rather lovely idea if others gave it a go. But now I’ve gained some perspective on why reading can be daunting, or how people lose confidence or find it hard to get back into it.

It does feel like there’s a lot of pressure with it. Our contemporary culture values the Next Big Thing – encouraging the rapid consumption of popular fiction, and valuing what is new and novel over longevity. Certain themes, genres and styles of writing are popular for a finite amount of time, then something else replaces them. You can feel like you’re playing constant catch up. Especially if there’s an adaptation of those books for film, TV or Netflix very soon after. It can make you reluctant to actually read the novels themselves because you can’t possibly keep up – which leads to books themselves becoming devalued.  

If you’re into more literary fiction, then the annual increase of longlists and shortlists and the growing number of prizes sets up a similar system of organising your reading via what is deemed the best by a literati, some shadowy high-brow elite who are the arbitrators of good taste in books. Of course, that’s not the idea at all with literary prizes and awards – but how they are presented in the media can play into our very real sense of status anxiety. It can also lead us to judge our own reading in comparison as lacking.

Time is also precious. We may have so much we need to do – work, family, children, studying, fitness – and so much we feel we have to do, that it may be difficult to schedule an activity that we feel is just indulgent, or that already feels pressured. Our reluctance and our guilt go hand in hand here. How can I justify sitting down with a novel, when there’s so much to be done? Reading a quick article online here and there, or flicking through a magazine on the bus is sometimes all we feel we can allow ourselves. And that’s totally fine too. One of the key things I like about the Six Book Challenge – and why they’re rebranding it this year as the Reading Ahead Challenge- is that it allows us to stop feeling guilty. It values the reading that we do, and that’s important, because it’s the start of beginning to read for pleasure – to read for yourself.

So what’s the next step? How can we kick start our reading again?

Here’s five ways you can ease back into it…

1)      Start small.

One of the best ways I’ve found to reinvigorate my reading again is to focus on those small reads, and work up. I’ve borrowed a few short story collections from the local library, by different authors such as Joanne Harris and Robin Hobb, and it’s much easier to just flick through, and pick and choose whatever looks interesting rather than feeling the pressure of committing to a weighty tome. And if I don’t like what I’m reading, then it’s no big deal.

 There’s also a wide variety of genres covered by short story writers, and often our favourite authors have written short stories set in familiar worlds or with their own characters, which are well worth checking out if you’re a fan. George RR Martin, Neil Gaiman and many more popular authors have excellent short story collections.  Magazines work too, or a poetry collection, or online news or pop culture sites. Anything short, sweet and easy to fit in.

2)      Make your own reader’s digest.

If you tend to mainly read on your phone, or are a huge social media fan, try compiling your own reader’s digest. There are many good apps for curating media and articles – you could even make a Pinterest board. Whenever you find an interesting article or website, add it to your board or bookmark it, then when you have a quiet moment you can go back and read your very own unique magazine or newspaper with articles you’ve chosen because they interest you. This can include blog posts too, and it can be an excellent way to keep up with news and development relevant to your studies or career.

3)      Revisit old friends

What books did you love when you were a kid? What story first captured your imagination? Or what novel reminds you wistfully of a really great time in your life? Go back and read it again.  Rediscovering The Twits, Discworld, Famous Five or Pippi Longstocking could be enormous fun, and you could just feel yourself enthused about reading again.

 If you feel rather foolish sitting down with a children’s book – there’s no need. Because children’s books and YA (Young Adult) fiction is more popular than they’ve ever been, with blockbuster adaptations and bestsellers which are beloved by adults and children alike – Harry Potter, anyone? If you have children, or younger siblings, relatives or friends, then reading aloud to them can be awesome fun, particularly if it’s a book you enjoy. Plus you can indulge your silly side by doing all the voices and accents to universal acclaim. My Hagrid impression is legendary in our house.

4)      Indulge in a guilty pleasure read.

 I’m generally of the opinion that you should never apologise for what you enjoy, and you should totally take ownership of what you love, even if it isn’t popular right now. However, reading something that you wouldn’t usually pick up, trying a different genre, or reading something which is the literary equivalent of a cosy blanket, pot of tea and buttered toast can be an excellent way to relax about reading. Star autobiographies, cookery books, romance or thrillers, picking something low-pressure and entertaining is a good way to flex your reading muscles. Asking for recommendations is also another good way to pick something completely different. Reading something new with an open mind is always a good thing. Which brings me nicely onto my last tip…

5)      Talk about what you read.

One of the best things about being a reader is the joy of discussing books with fellow readers. Trading recommendations, or debating plot points and favourite characters can really enhance how we connect to what we read. Reading a story and entering its imaginary world can spark our imagination, and to find others who have been there too creates a wonderful sense of community and friendship. This has become a major element of social media, with digital communities forming based on shared kinship and fandom, and online book communities such as Good Reads allowing readers to post reviews and comment on other user’s posts. So it’s good to get talking about what you read. Join a book club, or perhaps agree with a friend to both read the same book, then get together and share your thoughts.

 Which brings me back to this blog, and our book club at Yeovil College. Whether participating online with reviews or posts, or offline at our monthly meetups, reading together and meeting to discuss what we’ve read has been motivational and inspiring. We’ve tried new books and genres we would otherwise not have read, and despite sometimes greatly differing opinions, we share open friendly discussions where everyone’s voice and thoughts have been respected and heard. And there’s no pressure. Sometimes you really can’t get into a book, and that’s okay. It always gives you something to talk about, and that’s really the point. And there’s always next month’s book.  

So hopefully, my time with reader’s block is coming to a long awaited end, and whilst I can’t say it’s been enjoyable, I’ve definitely gained some perspective on how we lose our way with words – and how to find our way back. And I’m looking forward to the journey.

 Books We Talked About Today:

Helen McDonald “H is For Hawk”

Joanne Harris “Jigs and Reels”

Robin Hobb “The Inheritance: An Anthology of Tales from the Six Duchies and Beyond.”

Neil Gaiman “Smoke and Mirrors”; “Fragile Things.”

Roald Dahl “The Twits”

Terry Pratchett “The Colour of Magic”

Enid Blyton “Five on Treasure Island”
Astrid Lungen “Pippi Longstocking”

JK Rowling “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.”