Larkspur.
How to Read
by BRIAN CLARK
Turbo Charged Reading points in purple.
Who needs to
learn how to read?
After all,
we all learned how to read fairly early in life, usually in elementary school,
right?
But do you
know how to really read?
More
importantly, are you really reading?
Reading can make you a better writer,
as long as you’re paying attention and leaving time
to actually write. But what we’re
talking about here is what you say,
rather than how you say it.
If you
haven’t noticed, competition in the world of online content is fierce.
Anyone playing
to win is searching high and low for information that others don’t have,
which for
many means subscribing to a ridiculous number of RSS feeds.
While
seeking out novel information from a wide variety of sources is admirable,
it doesn’t
necessarily give you an advantage. The ancient Greeks had a label
for those
who were widely read but not well read—they called them sophomores.
As in sophomoric… not a second-year college student
(I suppose
there’s not really much of a distinction).
Scanners and
Pleasure Seekers
We know that
people don’t read well online. They ruthlessly scan for interesting chunks
of
information rather than digesting the whole, and they want to be entertained in
the process.
This is the
reality that online publishers deal with,
so we
disguise our nuggets of wisdom with friendly formatting and clever analogies.
But that
doesn’t mean you should read that way.
If you’ve
been publishing online for even a small amount of time, you’ve seen someone
leave a
comment that clearly demonstrates they didn’t read or understand the content.
Even more
painful is when someone writes a responsive post that clearly misses
the entire
point of the original article.
While it
happens to us all from time to time, you do not want to consistently be one of
these people. Credibility is hard enough to establish without routinely
demonstrating that you fail to grasp a topic you’ve chosen to write about,
whether in an article or a comment.
Plus, if
you’re doing nothing but scanning hundreds of RSS feeds
and reading
purely to be entertained, you’re at a disadvantage. Someone in your niche
or industry
is likely reading books and reading deeper to become the higher authority.
Or they will
after they read this article.
Information
vs. Understanding
People often
think of learning as an information-gathering and retention process.
But being
able to recall and regurgitate information is low-level learning
compared
with insightful understanding.
Bloggers are
big on regurgitation. These cut-and-paste creatives add value to the world
through a
mash-up of sources, right? Maybe, but without the ability to understand
and
communicate what it all means for the reader, you’re simply passing on
your reading
obligations to others, and that’s not giving people what they look for in a
publication.
On the other
hand, if you understand everything you read upon a casual once over,
are you
truly learning anything new? The material that gives you an edge in the insight
department is the stuff that’s harder to understand. In other words, the writer is your
superior when it comes
to that
particular subject matter, and it’s your job to close the expertise gap by reading well.
You do that
by moving beyond learning by instruction, and increasing your true
understanding by discovery. For
example, you read a challenging book full of great information,
and you
understand enough of it to know that you don’t understand all of it.
At that
point, you
can dive into the book again and read more carefully.
You can go
to supplemental resources. You can read other books. All that matters is you do
the work rather than asking someone, and I guarantee you’re really learning in
the process.
For example,
next time you read a challenging blog post and you’re not clear on a point,
your first
inclination might be to ask a question in the comments. Instead, read the post
again.
If it’s
still not clear, go do some research on your own to see if you can figure it
out.
Then when
you finally do ask a question, you’re on an entirely different level of understanding
and can
likely engage in a meaningful dialogue with the author.
Instruction
is important and beneficial.
But true
understanding comes from your own exploration and discovery along the path.
The Four
Levels of Reading
Back in
1940, a guy named Mortimer J. Adler jolted the “widely read” into realizing
they might
not be well read with a book called How to Read a Book.
Updated in
1973 and still going strong today, How to Read a Book identifies four levels of reading:
Elementary
Inspectional
Analytical
Synoptically
Each of
these reading levels is cumulative.
You can’t
progress to a higher level without mastering the levels that come before.
1.
Elementary Reading – Aptly named, elementary reading
consists of remedial literacy,
and it’s usually achieved during the elementary schooling years.
Sadly, many high schools and colleges must offer remedial reading courses to
ensure that elementary reading levels are maintained, but very little
instruction in advanced reading is offered.
2.
Inspectional Reading – Scanning and superficial reading are
not evil,
as long as approached as an active process that serves an appropriate purpose.
Inspectional reading means giving a piece of writing a quick yet
meaningful advance
review in
order to evaluate the merits of a deeper reading experience.
There are
two types:
Skimming:
This is the equivalent of scanning a blog post to see if you want to read it carefully.
You’re checking the title,
the subheads,
and you’re selectively dipping in and out of content
to gauge interest.
The same can be done with a book—go beyond the dust jacket
and peruse the
table of contents and each chapter,
but give yourself a set amount of time
to do it.
Superficial:
Superficial reading is just that… you simply read. You don’t ponder,
and you
don’t stop to look things up. If you don’t get something, you don’t worry about
it.
You’re
basically priming yourself to read again at a higher level if the subject
matter is worthy.
Stopping at
inspectional reading is only appropriate if you find no use for the material.
Unfortunately,
this is all the reading some people do in preparation for their own writing.
3.
Analytical Reading – At this level of reading, you’ve moved
beyond superficial reading
and mere information absorption. You’re now engaging your critical mind to
dig down
into the
meaning and motivation beyond the text.
To get a true understanding of a book, you would:
Identify and
classify the subject matter as a whole
Divide it
into main parts and outline those parts
Define the
problem(s) the author is trying to solve
Understand
the author’s terms and key words
Grasp the
author’s important propositions
Know the
author’s arguments
Determine
whether the author solves the intended problems
Show where
the author is uninformed, misinformed, illogical or incomplete
You’ll note
that the inspectional reading you did perfectly sets the stage for an
analytical reading. But so far, we’re talking about reading one book. The
highest level of reading allows you to synthesize knowledge from a comparative
reading of several books about the same subject.
4.
Syntopical Reading – It’s been said that anyone can read
five books on a topic
and be an expert. That may be true,
but how you read
those five books will make all the difference.
If you read those five books analytically,
you will become an expert on what five authors have said.
If you read five books syntopically,
you will develop your own unique perspective and expertise
in the field.
In other
words, syntopical reading is not about the existing experts.
It’s about you and the
problems you’re trying to solve, in this case for your own readers.
In this
sense, the books you read are simply tools that allow you to form an understanding
that’s never quite existed
before. You’ve melded the information in those books with your own life
experience and other knowledge to make novel connections and new insights.
You, my friend, are now an
expert in your own right.
Here are the
five steps to syntopical reading:
Inspection:
Inspectional reading is critical to syntopical reading. You must quickly indentify
which five (or 15) books you need to read
from a sea of unworthy titles.
Then you
must also quickly identify the relevant parts and
passages that satisfy your unique focus.
Assimilation:
In analytical reading, you identify the author’s chosen language
by spotting
the author’s terms of art and key words. This time, you assimilate the language
of each
author into the terms of art and key words that you choose,
whether by
agreeing with the language of one author or devising your own terminology.
Questions: This time,
the focus is on what questions you want answered
(problems solved),
as opposed
to the problems each author wants to solve. This may require that you draw
inferences
if any
particular author does not directly address one of your questions.
If any one
author fails to address any of your questions, you messed up at the inspection
stage.
Issues: When you ask a good question, you’ve identified an issue.
When experts have differing
or
contradictory responses to the same question, you’re able to flesh out all
sides of an issue,
based on the
existing literature. When you understand multiple
perspectives
within
an individual issue, you can intelligently discuss the issue,
and
come to your own conclusion
(which may differ from everyone else,
thereby
expanding the issue and hopefully adding unique value).
Conversation:
Determining the “truth” via syntopical reading is not really the point,
since
disagreements about truth abound with just about any topic. The value is found
within the
discussion among competing viewpoints concerning the same root information,
and you’re
now conversant enough to hold your own in a
discussion of experts.
This is what
the “online conversation” was supposed to look like according to early
bloggers,
and
sometimes, it does. But mostly, the online conversation looks like the
unqualified, unsubstantiated opinions of the ill-informed, and you’re not
looking to be part of that scene.
Be
a Demanding Reader for the Win
Reading, at
its fundamental essence, is not about absorbing information. It’s about asking questions, looking for
answers, understanding the various answers, and
deciding for yourself.
Think of
reading this way, and you quickly realize how this allows you to deliver
unique value
to your readers as a publisher.
If you think
all of this sounds like a lot of work, well… you’re right. And most people
won’t do it,
just like
most people will never blog or publish online in the first place.
That’s why
your readers need you. They need you to do the work for them,
because they
don’t want to become an expert. So, it’s your job to understand
the complex
and grasp the essentials, then make it simple, easy to read, and entertaining.
You’re on
it, right?
Comments:
WORLD TRAVELING ARTIST
As people
won’t learn to read online properly any time soon,
we’ve got to
stick to a several researches that point to the fact that the most important
information should be placed at the upper middle part of the screen.
SIMON
I’d not heard
of “How to read a book” – thanks a lot for bringing it to my/our attention
Skim reading
without duly taking in the context or argument is something that I’ve been
consciously guilty of for some time. I’ve largely failed in my attempts to
remedy it so far, but this offers some great tips. When I prune my reading list
to be able to concentrate more on my core areas of interest,
ULTIMATE BLOGGING EXPERIMENT
Just reading
other blog posts can make you a better writer.
I try to
explain that to my readers all the time.
“Plus, if you’re doing nothing but scanning
hundreds of RSS feeds and reading purely
to be
entertained, you’re at a disadvantage. Someone in your niche or industry
is likely
reading books and reading deeper to become the higher authority.”
It’s what
I’ve been trying to get across myself–that bloggers who regularly read books
written by
accomplished authorities and experts will become better writers (
both in
style and substance) than bloggers who only read blogs.
And:
“But being
able to recall and regurgitate information is low-level learning
compared
with insightful understanding.
Bloggers are
big on regurgitation.”All of us bloggers know this, whether we’ll admit it or
not.
Nice
explanation of The Four Levels of Reading.
I used Level
2: Inspectional Reading to read it. It looks like it “merits…a deeper reading
experience” so I’m going to reread it on Level 3.
Really good,
substantive, thought-provoking post.
JOEL MARK WITT
I know that
I get overwhelmed with the bulk of information online. I think that we
oftentimes swap great books and “deeper” reading material for quick blog posts
and even twitter feeds.
Those that
are succeeding in online publishing master the fundamentals you’ve laid out.
FRANCIS ABLOLA
Very true…to
be a better writer, even a direct response copywriter, you must become an avid
reader. Reading fiction novels develop story telling skills and stories draw
people into reading sales letters.
“How To Read
A Book” is a must. I first picked up a copy when the self-help guru Jim Rohn
mentioned it at one of his seminars.
NIMIC
This article
expertly highlights the differences between being well read and being well,
read.
The amount
of cutting and pasting in the world of blogs, and even in real life is
maddening.
I recently
wrote an article on Fight Club on my blog. In addition to my readers, I showed
it to
a bunch of
friends and family members. Not one of them understood what the movie was
about. Hint: It’s not about crazy people blowing stuff up.
Basically,
with any media, I feel that most people have become sophomoric, in that they
consume the information, regurgitate quotes and viewpoints, but never truly
understand anything.
LIBBY
Enjoyed this
post very much! It’s easy to get overloaded with RSS feeds and therefore skim
more than
analyze and truly digest.
WRITER DAD
I loved
this, and I couldn’t agree more. There was an article I READ a while back,
I think it
was called “Is Google Making Us Stupid.” It was about how we’re all turning
into
robotic
scanners. When we’re online, we swallow without chewing. At about my third week
of posting,
I realized that I was scanning a LOT of content. I’m a reader first, writer
second.
I didn’t
want to swallow without chewing. Even more, I didn’t want people doing that to
me.
From the moment
on, I treated every post as something my children would one day read.
It’s made
all the difference.
There are A lot more comments
http://www.copyblogger.com/how-to-read/
You can TCR specialist and language dictionaries
that are spontaneously accessed.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what
I’ve read.
I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve
read.
Emotions
when Turbo Charged Reading
YouTube
Perhaps you’d like to check
out my sister blogs:
To quote the Dr Seuss
himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the
more places you'll go.”
