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joabaldwin.com • 6 days ago

This is terrifying.

Readers will often skip prologues and ephemera (journal entries, song lyrics, footnotes)

They’ll also sometimes skip epilogues, denouements, and scenes they think don’t matter (intimacy, fights, chases)

And some just skip entire POVs and chapters

Edit accordingly, I guess #writingtips

Comments

kyefox.com•6 days ago

Sometimes authors who are otherwise good are way too proud of scenes that should have been cut or edited down. I skim a little for them.

It's usually authors who've never worked with an editor (often self-pub) or who are famous enough to ignore the editor.

kyefox.com•6 days ago

I also tend to skip detail-heavy sections since there's no way I'm going to remember any of it.

emptysetart.bsky.social•6 days ago

TL;DR

drakknrobo.bsky.social•6 days ago

I skip songs sometimes on subsequent reads (fourth or fifth time reading) but never the first few

drakknrobo.bsky.social•6 days ago

And it’s literally still only *sometimes*

alydalstry.bsky.social•6 days ago

well this depends.

its important to know if there was buildup, if its fighting just for the sake of fighting, who cares.

but was it for honor,love,conflict,deception,etc?
what happened during the fight to help lead to conclusions of the result after, did it provide new insight? etc.

scratchkitty.bsky.social•6 days ago

Wtaf? I only skip stuff in books I don't like (i usually still read to the end tho).. which makes all these people sound like they hate reading lmao

twigmouse.bsky.social•6 days ago

How to spot people who would rather watch the movie.

hreter.bsky.social•6 days ago

While on their phone for most of it

westorad.bsky.social•6 days ago

The idea of reading a book any other way than from front to back is wild to me

hreter.bsky.social•6 days ago

Not enjoying parts of a book is normal. But it's so sad how people aren't able to power through a bit of discomfort. So many new experiences, the possibility of acquiring new tastes, learning new things, simply thrown away.

nighteyes.bsky.social•6 days ago

And here I feel bad for being annoyed about having to flip to footnotes in the back of a book when reading an academic book.

sarxory.bsky.social•6 days ago

These people aren't reading, they're scanning. And missing a good portion of the story in nuance, emotion, and detail.

rhettoeraven.bsky.social•6 days ago

What?? At that point are they even reading???

camaroshepherd.bsky.social•1 day ago

I just want to say that I read every word in the order that it was written and I love every second I spend doing it. 😤

joabaldwin.com•1 day ago

Yesss, thank you <3 <3 <3

resolute.bsky.social•6 days ago

... I mean, I'll be honest, I do tend to skim lyrics/songs in text. I can't put them to a beat/rhythm in my head. Skipping entire sections is insanity. Just DNF if it's that bad.

deynataggerung.bsky.social•6 days ago

I have a crackpot theory that the engineered addictive nature of social media has altered people's brain chemistry to engage with a certain style of fast paced media. Books are often slower paced forms of media but the modern consumer is programmed for faster gratification to get that dopemine.

normbrown.bsky.social•6 days ago

I dunno, some will appreciate the art for what it is and devour every detail, others will just conclude "42" and be satisfied. To each their own

secyoteagenda.bsky.social•6 days ago

Good advice though; I'll be able to edit your books a lot faster with this in mind.

hugothepinkcat.bsky.social•6 days ago

The fact that they're all casually admiting to having the focus capacity of a squirrel on crack like it's no big deal is frankly quite concerning.

aratnamedrufus.bsky.social•6 days ago

They’re all in this, frankly, baffling position where they clearly think it’s cool to *BE* a reader, but think reading a book in full is “too boring…?” 🤔

leven.bsky.social•6 days ago

Honestly really weird of them to skip all of that and then think they understand the characters and their motivations. x3 I admit I tend to skim sex scenes, if I'm not really feeling it or feels thrown in. Which when you do them they are really fun to read, but skipping entire povs, world building..

leven.bsky.social•6 days ago

fights, when the action slows down, etc. I don't understand why anyone would skip that? As some of the best character moments happen then, as you get to see how a characters brain works and it's fun to see how they react. :3 Some of my favorite scenes are the slow ones, even having ones from Noss

tanukidad.bsky.social•6 days ago

Well that's a bummer to read. :/

joabaldwin.com•6 days ago

It's all a matter of finding the right audience for your books though. At least people are reading I guess, but there are a lot more people who your writing isn't for at all than people who will truly appreciate it.

causticbotanist.bsky.social•6 days ago

I mean- is it even reading at that point? Like, you’re setting yourself up to miss some of the plot

sekhburd.bsky.social•6 days ago

Key example: I haaaaate Sansa's POV in Game of Thrones, but she's literally the ENTIRE WINDOW into whats happening with the political backstabbing game for like 2 whole books. If you skip her stuff you'd miss an entire plot arc...

fayv.bsky.social•6 days ago

"Readers"

fayv.bsky.social•6 days ago

This is probably why I will never be popular, nor have mass appeal

But honestly my reaction is "leave them behind"

The text and meaning is there on the page, if someone wants to skip it whatever, but writing less to sate people that will skip about is silly.

forestoffaun.bsky.social•6 days ago

love existing in today's world

eidolun.bsky.social•6 days ago

Every American that sees the problems with this needs a passport, because this country's collapse is so imminent. The writing is on the wall, and it's written in crayon.

jameswells98226.bsky.social•6 days ago

Readers are free to have their own experience reading, right? From the caps I'll select one I relate to: the reader who skims fight scenes. I have read enough fight scenes for one or more lifetimes. Unless something thematically important happens in the fight, I just want the result. Is that wrong?

joabaldwin.com•6 days ago

How do you know if something thematically important happens without reading it?

ashlinde.bsky.social•6 days ago

Rainbow text. Big arrows on the page. Vibes.

jameswells98226.bsky.social•6 days ago

1) Skim is not skip 2) By the 2nd or 3rd fight scene in a book, there's a pattern. I don't care about detailed fight scene blocking 3) Reading is good, reading 100% is a purity test 4) Every reader can and should decide how to spend the precious sands of their lifetime, including how to read a book.

joabaldwin.com•6 days ago

The limited time I totally agree with. I do something similar with audiobooks but not with specific types of scenes—if a book is just not doing it for me at all, I start playing at faster speeds as a way to skim to see if it's worth investing more time in it or not. Like a last try before giving up.

jameswells98226.bsky.social•6 days ago

Re different modes of consuming: I really like reading text over listening especially because it's random access. Sometimes yes to skim, but other times to slow down at a key moment, and also to effortlessly skip back a few paragraphs and reread to really set up and understand that moment.

pouncethetiger.bsky.social•6 days ago

I personally leave authors notes/forewords to read after. I just like to go in as blind as possible to an experiance

tarnfalk.bsky.social•6 days ago

So I have gone back and read books only from a single characters perspective but that was only after I’d read the book multiple times in the past. Also the “I skip scenes with to much detail” is incredibly annoying. Give me every detail possible I beg of you lol

kaboombox.bsky.social•6 days ago

Starting to understand how so many people get things so wrong about the stories they “read”.

timelessriver.bsky.social•6 days ago

Seems like these are the sort of people who view reading as a chore versus something to be savored. If I’m restless, I take a break. No need to rush the process or prolong my dissatisfaction by forcing myself to finish something I dislike. Thought this was true of all readers, but I guess not!

sturmovikdragon.bsky.social•1 day ago

There was a book series where I skipped the prologue then read it later and found it actually ruined almost all of the mystery I had found in the main work. I warned friends not to read it until after and they agreed with my assessment.

joabaldwin.com•1 day ago

Prefaces/forewords tend to be dangerous that way. Prologues shouldn't be, as they are part of the actual text of the book and not meant to be what's called front matter or back matter.

sturmovikdragon.bsky.social•1 day ago

This was a fantasy novel prologue that provided a lot of lore and backstory, but if skipped everything unfolded without the reader literally knowing who the main character was going to grow up to be and do.

tarvosasterion.bsky.social•6 days ago

Disgusting people. May as well remove the ability to read from them entirely, since they clearly don't appreciate using it. That's my hot take.

aflockbetweenpastures.com•6 days ago

Holy shit. What’s the point of reading it then? Can you even say you’re reading it at that point?

goob.art•6 days ago

My optimistic perspective on this is that books are a little bit like (singleplayer) video games in the sense that they are usually experienced alone and pacing can to an extent be user-controlled (skimming paragraphs/chapters being analogous to skipping encounters/quests).

goob.art•6 days ago

There's no shame in not finishing every side quest in a game even if they're thematically critical so should we shame people for not reading every chapter? The answer isn't "no" but I find this haphazard reading style to be diabolical enough that I can't help but reflect on it.

goob.art•6 days ago

Bark bark bark bark bark arf arf arf arf arf

sonicgott.bsky.social•6 days ago

I think people are only looking for quick emotional satisfaction. If something drags out too long, it bores them and they don’t feel challenged.

We’re a “get it done as fast as possible society.”

joabaldwin.com•6 days ago

Relevant... https://bsky.app/profile/wolvendamien.bsky.social/post/3lfyg76hiys2p

alydalstry.bsky.social•6 days ago

*got physically ill readding this for a second*

sockynoob.bsky.social•6 days ago

Might have to rename Gen Alpha to Gen Lazy or Gen Moron

typhonjrt.bsky.social•6 days ago

It's the equivelant of reading a movie's Wikipedia page instead of actually watching the thing except somehow worse.

causticbotanist.bsky.social•6 days ago

Anybody that says this to me I’m biting them.

sonicgott.bsky.social•6 days ago

thomasdoebi.bsky.social•6 days ago

📌

acroth.bsky.social•5 days ago

Typically overly bloated descriptions I tend to skip a bit forward or have a very pretentious character that I can only imagine is the author’s self insert kinda have to eye roll. It can be good like a zany Clive clusser novel dirk pitt what moon logic crazy thing will happen next.