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[NF] NFP, how do you read?

briochick

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Dec 14, 2008
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Right, just curious about a me-curiosity and wondering if it was a singular one or one attached to type (or possibly ADD [yes, it's real] or left handedness).

Right. So, I read out of order.
That is, I start a book, skip a couple of pages, or chapters ahead, read, and go back. Or don't go back. I usually skip to the end of tests about six questions in and take the test backwards, or in a backwards-forwards way where I answer a few questions on one page, until I'm bored or frustrated, and go to another. I do it with online quizzes too (as much as I'm able, I hate those ones that won't let me go on to the next until I've answered what I've been asked). I read articles in a disordered way as well. It's very rare that I read something strait through, beginning to end. Usually I am trying very hard to look or feel intelligent when I read that way.

I also write out of order, or so I'm told. It rarely seems out of order to me but my professors and classmates at university would say my essays and stories were jumbled. All the right stuff was there but in all the wrong order.

Does this happen with you other NFPers as well?
 

lamp

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Jul 8, 2009
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528
I will do this when I cannot focus on the material and do not intend on reading it completely. Mostly though I read things start to finish, reading quickly if I find it boring.
 

Lady_X

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Right, just curious about a me-curiosity and wondering if it was a singular one or one attached to type (or possibly ADD [yes, it's real] or left handedness).

Right. So, I read out of order.
That is, I start a book, skip a couple of pages, or chapters ahead, read, and go back. Or don't go back. I usually skip to the end of tests about six questions in and take the test backwards, or in a backwards-forwards way where I answer a few questions on one page, until I'm bored or frustrated, and go to another. I do it with online quizzes too (as much as I'm able, I hate those ones that won't let me go on to the next until I've answered what I've been asked). I read articles in a disordered way as well. It's very rare that I read something strait through, beginning to end. Usually I am trying very hard to look or feel intelligent when I read that way.

I also write out of order, or so I'm told. It rarely seems out of order to me but my professors and classmates at university would say my essays and stories were jumbled. All the right stuff was there but in all the wrong order.

Does this happen with you other NFPers as well?

yes!!!! never met anyone else who did this!! it's like i have little patience for steps i want all the info at once as fast as possible and almost see it as one mass instead of having parts...wait that doesn't make sense...but yes...i usually read the back of the book...the middle to see if i like it and them start at the beginning and will decide i'm ready for the end before i get there...and i do it in sentences too or posts...middle first last usually...and very often i read words totally backward i feel like i have to make an effort to slow down and read left to right...i think it just pertains to words that make others backward though...like just a sec ago i read was as saw....and did that thing where i had to pause and slow down...weird! or maybe it's normal ha! i have no idea :D
 

Snuggletron

Reptilian
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Sep 25, 2009
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I read a book for a very short period and then stop. I am not a start to finish'er when it comes to novels, it grinds on my attention span like no other. I like reading in short, digestible chunks. I also jump around on tests and things.

This is why I like the internet, I can read something quickly and then jump around to other tabs when I get bored.
 

dotdalidot

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Apr 3, 2008
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UFO
I read a book for a very short period and then stop. I am not a start to finish'er when it comes to novels, it grinds on my attention span like no other. I like reading in short, digestible chunks. I also jump around on tests and things.

This is why I like the internet, I can read something quickly and then jump around to other tabs when I get bored.

This exactly!

However, I'm not a jumper when it comes to novels, I just HAVE to read from start to finish, I don't like spoilers I guess lol. It takes me forever to finish a novel though, maybe because I'm also "reading" five other books at the same time.

Oh, yeah I also write out of order too. Well I mean, if I'm writing something, I don't really follow a structured route(unless I already have it written in my head), for instance I may have this idea of a paragraph that's meant to be in the middle and I go ahead and write it, then maybe I'll write the ending etc.
 

Cybin

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Jun 12, 2009
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Definately. Online I tend to have several tabs open and I read a few paragraphs on one then jump to the next.

Whoever said they read as one big chunk, I agree with that. I love to read, but I easily become impatient when it takes too long to get all of the information. I also have a bad habit of, when trying to fight my attention span and just read, I zone out really badly and have to constantly back track.
 

Coeur

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I do that too! I adore Question-Answer format books because they allow me to jump around as I please without missing any material. I also take tests/quizzes backwards or out of order.

I refuse to skip around while reading normal books, however.

I'm more motivated to read when I have a general overview of the plot. Maybe it gives me something to look forward to during dull sections? It's hard for me to read something all the way through, unless I'm obsessed with the plot and finish the book within a couple of days. I HATE reading things in pieces; it's all or nothing. Usually, I'm obsessed with a book for a day or two, get distracted by life, and don't touch it again for months.
 

neptunesnet

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Mmm-hm.

:yes:

I write out of order like dotdalidot does, and I take test backwards like you, briochick+.
But generally I read something out of order because it's dull or I'm too anxious about what's on the next page to actually read it in order from beginning to end.

I agree with cybin about having several tabs open at once. I like to get my information quickly yet thoroughly like Adoamros.

See how I did that? I credited everyone.

:)
 
Last edited:

Thalassa

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I do this most frequently with text books when I have to do a great deal of factual reading for a class. I enjoy doing this, too, with non-fiction self-help books which I sometimes read for pleasure.

However, when it comes to novels I am a traditional hard-core reader, and I would never think of skipping around or reading the end before I got there which would spoil the whole story IMO. I love to read novels, so I approach them very differently. If I get an urge to "jump around" a novel the chances are that I just hate that book and have a very slim chance of even finishing it. I'll usually just abandon a novel in that case, unless it's something I must read for a class.
 

OrangeAppled

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Yep. :D

I usually read novels in order, but I've been guilty of skipping to the end and then going back to read the rest (a la Harry in When Harry Met Sally, haha).

When it comes to non-fiction, then I am all over the place in a book.
In articles and things like that, I tend to do a pre-scan, glean what I want, and if it's really interesting I might read it all through. Magazines are never read front to back...I especially read interviews out of order. I will start in the middle, go the end, return to the start. I think this is because the meat is usually in the middle of almost any writing.

I totally write out of order. Thank goodness for computers....I tend to jump to different paragraphs of my post as thoughts come to me, and I copy and paste to put my posts in order. Not just whole sentences, but even the structure of the sentence may get rearranged. Unfortunately, that can cause errors like leaving a connecting word out....
 

Chunes

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If it's something heavily chronologically-dependent (such as a book that builds on concepts as it goes along), then I can read front to back.

However, most nonfiction, I will open up to a random page and start reading. Then I'll back up a bit, read some more, jump here and there, to and fro, slowly filling in all the gaps. I do this naturally, without even realizing it.
 

The Outsider

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Always straight through, beginning to end.
 

briochick

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I love to read, but I easily become impatient when it takes too long to get all of the information. I also have a bad habit of, when trying to fight my attention span and just read, I zone out really badly and have to constantly back track.

I love your avatar. :D

I am exactly like that. I've wished that there was a pump where all the information could just be put into my brain directly, because I want to *know* but I'm patient with the time it takes to learn.
I also zone out (and this response is unique because usually I go from the last sentence to the first and I'm going from first to last this time, mostly cuz I'm thinking about it) so whenever I've read something through I feel like I've read it twice through. It can also make me seem like a slow reader, but that's just because I loose my place so often!
 

rainoneventide

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I read with the book in front of my face while turning each page in consecutive order, usually while seated.
 

Thinkerninja

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i normally read a few sentences of the beginning, and if i find it boring, i just skip a few pages/chapters and start off from there, skipping any boring material but not so many pages that i dont know whats happening. i might go back to a certain section if i didnt get what was happening
 

MrRandom88

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Mar 26, 2010
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Right, just curious about a me-curiosity and wondering if it was a singular one or one attached to type (or possibly ADD [yes, it's real] or left handedness).

Right. So, I read out of order.
That is, I start a book, skip a couple of pages, or chapters ahead, read, and go back. Or don't go back. I usually skip to the end of tests about six questions in and take the test backwards, or in a backwards-forwards way where I answer a few questions on one page, until I'm bored or frustrated, and go to another. I do it with online quizzes too (as much as I'm able, I hate those ones that won't let me go on to the next until I've answered what I've been asked). I read articles in a disordered way as well. It's very rare that I read something strait through, beginning to end. Usually I am trying very hard to look or feel intelligent when I read that way.

I also write out of order, or so I'm told. It rarely seems out of order to me but my professors and classmates at university would say my essays and stories were jumbled. All the right stuff was there but in all the wrong order.

Does this happen with you other NFPers as well?


a website
When reading
i usually just skip around.

pretty frustrating sometimes
The process of reading is actually
because while im reading I don't seem to process the exact meaning of it right away and ill have to go back and reread it ya know?

there...I wrote my post in such a way that you'll understand it. :)
 

kiddykat

movin melodies
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Weirdness. I love flipping through my reading materials from back to front just to get a feel for what I'm getting into. If it's a biography book or a spiritual philosophy related type book, I like to skip around to find inspired quotes of the day.

When taking online quizes, I like to start them from bottom up- makes me feel lucky for some reason. heheh

When reading textbooks, I like to create a mind-map just to get the gyst of topics covered- then I skim and look at captions underneath pictures/graphs. Basically, if it's dry reading material, I need different ways of absorbing the literature- music combined with quick jots, or with my TV on. :)
 

Lady_X

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Weirdness. I love flipping through my reading materials from back to front just to get a feel for what I'm getting into. If it's a biography book or a spiritual philosophy related type book, I like to skip around to find inspired quotes of the day.

When taking online quizes, I like to start them from bottom up- makes me feel lucky for some reason. heheh

When reading textbooks, I like to create a mind-map just to get the gyst of topics covered- then I skim and look at captions underneath pictures/graphs. Basically, if it's dry reading material, I need different ways of absorbing the literature- music combined with quick jots, or with my TV on. :)

wow...kinda trippin out that so many of us do this!
 

Lacey

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Jan 3, 2009
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I read most things in a random order...unless it's something where the story is important, like a novel or whatever. (I really like stories that aren't chronological though...makes up for the fact that I'm having to read in order. hahaha)

I also take tests/quizzes in random order. (I always have to go through them at the end to make sure I answered everything. :mellow:)

I'm a pretty bad writer, for many reasons, but disorder/disorganization is definitely one of my big weaknesses.

I don't think I was like this when I was younger. I think the internet did it to me.
 
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