..."I've been doing photoreading and syntopic reading on my own, in bookstores, for years!"That's what I've discovered as well! My practice is to set my topic goal, than start searching that topic section. My eyes scan the titles, and I'll pull books that catch my eye for a closer look. To determine whether I'm interested further, I scan the title, back cover, flip to front cover, and only if further interested, I'll read the flaps. Words jump out at me. If the book passes these tests, I'll hold it in my pile of possibilities. When I've finished gathering all the possibilities from that section, I'll carry them to a table, or find a place to sit and take a closer look.
Closer inspection is checking out the table of contents, viewing the index, and just flipping through to see where my eyes land. If I like what I find as I pass through, it meets my criteria for reading.
For periodicals and newspapers, I read headings, glance at photos and read captions. I scan articles, and only actually focus on every word if the wording itself grabs me. I can't seem to get enough of a well turned phrase!
I taught my son to view the newspaper this way, when in 7th grade he needed to write a current events report each week. The task of viewing the newspaper was overwhelming to him until he discovered that he need only scan the headings, until he found something of interest, and even then he need only read the first and last paragraphs to know what the article is about!
You said I sit down to "read" the first of the stack of new books. And it's agony. .
Perhaps your connotation of "reading" is skewed due to an old, worn association that reading is difficult. You might consider that since you now love being the crazed scholar, soaking up knowledge, making connections, soaring on what you can only refer to as an intellectual high that "reading" for you now represents this excitement, this joy.
Bring that wonderful association from the bookstore home with you. My heart pounds when I first enter the bookstore. I love the smell, even the old musty stores. So much possibility. My shelves at home give me that same pleasure. I'm excited when I crack open a book, but if writers were limited to only giving pertinent information, most books would be under 50 pages.
Without knowing Photoreading (I've only begun the program), here's how my reading usually goes:
Decide what I'm in the mood to read/learn. Pick up the book, review the front, back (recall why I wanted to read this in the first place). Get an idea of what the book is about and what I want to get out of it. Open, and start reading the first chapter. I read till my eyes start to glaze, then I skip further along. Many times I'll only read a few words in each sentence, or a few words down the middle of the page. If you scan like this, you'll still find you know the gist. I'll generally read the first and last paragraph, any call outs, headings and subheadings.
If the writing is to my liking, I may read every word, or I may not. Skip through at whatever speed is comfortable, but do skip and no law says you must read front to back. Jump ahead, jump back, just enjoy learning what you can from the material.
This post came late to this thread, so perhaps you've gotten far enough in your Photoreading that this is old hat by now!
My name is Kathryn, and I love to read.
