As a writer, it distresses me to know so many people who never read. Oh, they’ll read a technical article or a manual, whatever, if it’s absolutely required of them for work–but a novel? Not on your life.
I think the way the public schools teach reading has a lot to do with it. As a little child, I couldn’t wait to learn to read. My mother, my aunts, my grandparents, were always reading. They read things to me. So I was just itching to be able to read for myself.
But in school they turn it into tedious work, dull, dry, please-make-it-stop…
If you’re a poor reader, then reading won’t be pleasant for you and you won’t have any desire for it. If I were your tutor, I could fix that for you: it’s not that hard, and I have the training for it. There are techniques that you can learn, that anyone can learn, which will enable you to read faster and with better comprehension; and by and by, reading won’t be painful for you anymore.
I doubt I can teach this in a series of blog posts. I suppose I could try, if enough of you wished it.
I do wish my own books could get a wider readership. They’re all available here, you know: just click “Books” on the home page. It’d be nice if we had them in the form of audiobooks; then all you’d need is an attention span.
But you must do some reading, or you wouldn’t be here at all. Do me a favor: go to the home page and click “Books,” browse a bit, and see what you think. What have you got to lose?
