Saturday, 25 September 2021

 


Good morning People's

And how are you? 

Everything OK in the reading world?

Enjoying that cracking book and the whole world smells of roses because the chapters are just flying by?


 

But wait, what's that coming down the tracks? There's no moving, it's coming head on. You can't avoid it,

Oh No! It's the slump! That sludgy monster that is the bane of every readers nightmare!


If there is one thing that I see quite a lot is readers, particularly bloggers, decrying, is that they need help. They have slumped, they just can't get their mojo in gear and everything that they read feels like visual torture. It's at this point that everyone chips in to make helpful suggestions to hopefully help that fellow reader out. I have even done it myself, giving little nuggets of advice, like; read your favourite book; read a graphic novel etc. All helpful suggestions, but ultimately useless, because truth be told, if you ain't feeling it, you ain't feeling it!


You could do what I have done in the past, scoured the internet in the past, looking for advice, helpful tips to get you started back on your reading journey and have you devouring the normal amount of books that you were reading not so long back. However, I don't know if it is the same with you, but it just doesn't work.

Now life as a blogger and reviewer can be pretty intense at times. You get authors requesting that you review their books, you may have a blog where you have to put content out or a you tube channel or those advanced reading copies that you got from certain sites, all of these things add pressure and thus increase the stress that the reader feels when in a slump, but what we need to look at is what caused the slump in the first place, and it usually goes back to the same thing, You are Tired!

If we boil it down to it's barest component, the main reason that we enter a slump is simply that we are knackered. Let's face it, most of us that read, blog, do youtube thingies etc,  actually have a life outside the four walls of the content. And guess what, life has a funny habit of throwing stones at your window and forcing you to take notice, And it is in those times, the first thing to go is concentration, hence reading, because for me, I want to stare at something that is not too taxing and just switch my brain off for a bit.

"Noooo", you decry, "I use reading to relax, to escape!"

Well, yeah of course you do, but let's face it, it does require a certain amount of brain power that quite honestly, sometimes I haven't got.

And this also raises another point in things that can make the reading slump worse, especially for people that have taken on books for review purposes. 

Me, I tend to feel an obligation to those authors that have kindly got in touch asking me to review their books, and let me tell you, the pressure to read the books does not come from the authors, because let's face it, an author's main reason for sending you the book in the first place is that they want you to enjoy what they have written, to experience the joy that they got from writing it. No, it comes entirely from within and I just can't help it. 

How to beat the Reading Slump!

I bet you are thinking that I am going to give you several pearls of wisdom here don't you? A how to guide to beat the reading slump. 

Sooorry, I haven't got them, because we are all different and what works for me, may not work for you.

But I do have one thing that I have found works for me when I am trying to beat the reading slump.

Don't bother trying to beat it, because usually I find I can't! Instead, I accept it! Embrace it! Do something else, don't beat myself up.

Guess what, there is nothing wrong with having a rest. In fact, for me, rest and relaxation (self care as they are calling it now) what ever you want to call it, these are the main things you need and this is the main things that works.

And when you are ready, get back to basics, read for fun, not for reviewing. It doesn't matter how many books you read, it matters that you enjoy the books you read!

We all see those reading challenges and think, I am not reading as many as that person. Don't beat yourself up about it, the old saying quality not quantity is the thing that  comes into play here!  Let that go and enjoy what you are doing. reading a book a year and enjoying the hell out of that book is far more important than reading a hundred books and not being able to remember a thing about them.

This is my view and people may disagree, but for me, this is what I find works. I just do the slump, play video games and watch some TV.

Thank you for reading!


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