reading for 24h
of course i stopped to sleep, duh
Things I learned about myself with this little experiment:
Not scrolling is easier to do if I know I have to read. Technically, I always have something to read, but reading for work is not the same as reading for pleasurable, even if the potential to have fun is there for both. So, yes, I still feel like I learned something new from that!
Alternating between ebooks and audiobooks is very convenient, and it’s best if I have both options easily available, in case I can’t read one way or the other;
The time pressure/challenge of it all makes it easier for me to switch off my writer brain. Sometimes I don’t want to pay attention to echoes and repetition. Let me live;
I’m very distracted and bored all the time, so this is a way of making sure I’m keeping up with the market and exploring my own taste. Yes, reading is fun! But sometimes it’s not—or it doesn’t sound like it. It takes me a while to start things in general, and if I have to trick myself to do it, so be it;
Making it A Thing helps, even if there’s no true accountability, or competition, or no one joins. Having graphics and goals, and posting about it scratches the part of my brain that demands to have tasks be gamified.
Now for the details:
I did this on the 3rd of June, starting at 12pm. Yes, I took lots of breaks, and I slept in between. I’m aware there’s multiple ways of doing this, but this seemed like the most approachable for me;
My goals were: finishing The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, continue Immortal Consequences, and starting Horrid;
My results were: I finished The Coldest Girl and it was everything I love about that era of YA. I got 38% into Immortal Consequences (I think I was previously at, like, 2%?). I read 14% of Hollow instead of Horrid because I was at the hairdresser and couldn’t really listen to an audiobook with my head buried in bleach.
I’m hoping to do another one of these very soon. I’ll have a twitter thread just for it and update whenever I remember/feel like it (and, of course, Canva will be involved).
That’s all. Happy readings!