What's a good read?
Some people are naturally inclined to read a lot. Others have to work at it. Please allow me to share how reading has helped me get to where I am now and hopefully give encouragement to other young people to develop the love for reading. I hope that you’ll start soon and take your first step towards developing the habit of reading.
How I Developed A Reading Habit
It doesn’t need to be a textbook or any physical book that you have to read. It can be any. The truth is I’m not even into popular novels or popular books written by bestselling authors.
I started more into non-fiction, and didn’t read many printed books. I read ebooks, articles on websites, and sometimes, magazines. To develop the habit of reading, you choose what you really like to read and what topics really interest you.
Nobody is born with perfect reading skills, though. If you want to read more often, you need to develop a reading habit now so that you don’t forget how much fun it can be! Here are some tips for developing that habit as a teenager.
1. Make time to read
In school, I set aside an hour every day at the same time—after dinner, before bedtime—to read. This way it was a regular part of my routine, and I never had to make choices about what I “should” be doing with my free time. If you can’t make time during the week, at least set aside some weekends to do it!
I noticed that students often read during lunch break. When I’m not doing any schoolwork, I always remember to drop everything and read. Now with online classes, I often have so much time to pick up a book.
2. Choose books that interest you
If you don’t like what you’re reading, reading will just seem like pointless work that takes away from the things you’d rather do. So if you can’t get yourself to read, start by choosing books on subjects that interest you.
You don’t need to go with the rest of the world when there’s a new book coming out, or when there’s a best-selling author that your classmates love to read or recommended by your classmates because every person has individual preferences and interests. You don’t need to conform with society as long as you know what you love. Choose what books or what articles you think might be beneficial to you. It may not be at the moment or soon, but I’m sure those things that you learn from the materials from the articles you read might be helpful in the distant future.
Go for whatever you love for the topics that you are most interested in. And I’m sure you’ll get to benefit from them and get to use them sometimes. But for me, I often read professional books and articles which I think may help improve my writing skills and strategies.
3. Find your favorite reading spot
I like to read in my room, propped up against the wall—it’s the perfect position! You might like reading in bed, or on the couch, or at your desk in your bedroom. Experiment with different places until you find one that works for you. You’ll always want to come back to it!
4. Talk about your reading habit with someone else
This is the best way to read something for fun rather than just out of obligation: Tell other people about what you’re reading and why it’s interesting to you. Ask your friends and family to give you a review! They can tell you what surprised them, made them think, or made them laugh.
It pays off to have read some or a few books because you get to interact with other people to talk about them. Talking about the books, the stories that you’ve read opens conversations.
You will also learn some new ideas and reading recommendations from other people. Once I get home, I search for those titles or those authors and then read a little about them. From there, I choose which ones I’m genuinely interested in.
5. Don’t ever put down a book until you finish it all the way through!
This will make your reading more fun and motivating. It’s just like eating those delicious desserts that are so tempting, but then you can’t stop—you have to finish them all the way through because they’re so delicious! If you just read from the last page to the first again, you’ll lose some of the momentum that comes from finishing a book.
Remember Why You Need A Reading Habit
Remember, it doesn’t need to be always a textbook or a novel. There are a lot of platforms now or media that you can read. So when you’re free, when you have free time, like before you start your classes every day, or when you’re about to sleep, pick up something to read.
About the Contributing Writer:
Marlo Rene is a Grade 9 student from Quezon City. Gamer. Food nerd. Internet geek. Passionate thinker. Wannabe pop cultureaholic. Falls down a lot. General travel aficionado. Writer.
