When Reading Becomes the Enemy.

The Reality of Reading Slumps, and Dealing with Their Existence

Written By: Cleo Cuizon

Date: Oct. 4, 2024

Being a bookstagram, there’s this unconscious expectation placed on the community to overcome certain feats in reading, which any avid bookworm gladly accepts to test their capabilities. The annual reading challenge, mostly recorded in Goodreads, encourages this need to reach as many books as one can, which I personally appreciate for its healthy encouragement towards today’s generation of readers. 

However, amidst the journey to reach our truest potential, we encounter various obstacles as the characters we read in our stories. And that’s where we discuss the elephant in the room— reading slumps.

The arch-nemesis of every reader’s path to literary triumph; a self-centered, slothful glob that breathes down your shoulder, mocking the minutes committed to our literary efforts just for them to deem it as “wasteful” and “unproductive”. A demonic entity that uses despicable methods to coerce procrastination in one’s progress, leading to a loss of motivation for our beloved hobby.

As dramatic as it sounds, reading slumps are a daily struggle most readers dread encountering. And with the desire to anticipate reading consistently, it’s crucial to understand why such a phenomenon occurs, and how we could subdue its domineering effect.

About Reading Slumps:

As someone highly active in the bookish community, I’ve had my fair share of reading slumps amidst the annual challenges I aspire to complete. And to summarize the reality of dealing with such ordeals: it just straight-up sucks.

The detriment of losing one’s motivation for reading feels like losing the appetite to eat your favorite meal after ordering it. It’s a wasteful decision, and a sense of shame dwells in your consciousness as you stare into the void, wondering if you’ll ever pick that spoon again. 

It’s like thinking about that cheesecake all day, and when you get home all cozied up in your bed, ready to eat that cheesecake, all of a sudden…you don’t want it anymore.

And I love cheesecake; I dread to waste a crumb of it.

Reading slumps embody this burden of lethargy for what we love about reading. We view our goals with this assertive and hopeful mindset for the challenges ahead. Without motivation pushing its efforts against the uncertain road, sometimes the strain occurs into our consciousness, inclining the need to procrastinate and digress with other matters. 

Besides the general laziness of reading, external factors contribute to the phenomenon. Hectic schedules, personal issues, and physical ordeals affect the drive to sit and genuinely enjoy reading time. Because when we’re stressed, how can we indulge in an imaginative story?

When It Happens:

Reading slumps are not a sudden instance that gives a jump scare or two. Although I’m glad that doesn’t happen at all, the occurrence could equate to a lingering flu that worsens over time. 

If ever you encountered a reading slump, you may have experienced the following examples:

• Your mind goes on auto-pilot mode; you shift in and out of the progression of events, unable to register what happened before and what will happen next. In one instance, I was reading an important lore in one of my fantasy books. While trying to understand its correlation to the characters, my mind unconsciously ruminates on the grocery list I forgot to create an hour prior. (It’s giving paranoia…)

• Similar to a loss of focus, lacking an imaginative mind while reading is another daunting element. The inability to manifest a realm that its creator committed to articulate becomes a disheartening outcome, and I also struggled with this often. Deciphering through the black and white inks without the ability to envision the author's work results in this tragic outcome of reading just…words. 

• The lethargy to read becomes so intense that even reading a sentence poses as an obligatory assignment. At some points, you would feel your brain straining to look through each word and formulate an idea with one sentence after another. It’s like reading your math homework. You see numbers but there’s no color to its substance. Just a bunch of ink that torments you to understand its profundity. 

These instances are a few of the many scenarios that describe the strenuous experience of enduring a reading slump. Although a novice reader might think, “that seems a bit exaggerated. You just need to sleep then you’ll be fine.” It’s not always like that.

(Just wait till it happens to you, buddy)

Overcoming a slump varies with anyone. One may have to spend some time away, while others need a few minutes of fresh air, and they're good for another round. However, the general consensus leans on the fact that reading slumps are a nuisance, and every reader wants to avoid that as much as possible. Especially for our dedicated bookish influencers/athletes. 

How to Overcome Them:

But on the bright side, such experiences are normal. Yep, there are. And as much as some ample factors and elements can make a person end up in this crisis, there are also many ways to overcome them. Such obstacles require a huge amount of self-care routines, with little to no financial effort: (well, at least for my recommendations…)

• LET IT GO. That’s all. Just let the slump prance around the room and do its dirty deed for how long it wants. The worst thing is to fight against its motives and complete a book without understanding anything, leaving you further drained for wasting time. Close the book, drop it, and let yourself rot in bed or deal with other important matters.

• Get some fresh air: It doesn’t necessarily have to be for a few minutes. Taking the time to look around and find new inspiration in your surroundings can clarify your mindset and gain new space for your brain to gather new information. Sometimes, reading slumps happen because we read too much for our brain to handle. 

So take it easy, and go touch some grass.

• Remove the shame and guilt for not reading as much. Although we are aware that it’s what we love, sometimes we can't help but feel pressured when we see other bookish friends on social media grinding to read millions of books. I also tend to get pressured too. As much as I want to spend the rest of my life just rotting in bed and reading, I know that I need to take a break from words every once in a while. It’s never wrong to indulge in other activities, most especially matters that you need in your everyday life. Leave the book alone; it’ll always be there when you need it. 

A general reminder for all bookish fellows: Reading should always feel like an enjoyable experience. It’s something that one does to unwind, relax, and use as a helpful tool to relieve any troubles they wish to set aside temporarily. 

But once it feels obligatory, one should stop and reflect on how we indulge in our hobbies. As much as possible: a bookworm should never force themselves to read when they don’t want. That's not a hobby; that’s homework.

So keep in mind that the next time a reading slump creeps into your consciousness once more, it’s always wise to let the feeling pass by. The sad reality is that it will prevail to haunt every reader when it gets the chance. However, the key to overcoming it relies on the reader’s ability to subdue this unfathomable enemy. It can be a minuscule feat for some, or a terrifying crisis for others. 

But the bottom line is that we all just want a moment to sit, relax, and enjoy reading, like how it always has been.