Remembering books better

Discussion in 'Literature' started by SushiKey, Dec 25, 2017.

  1. SushiKey Destiny Islands Resident

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    I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but what's a good way to remember details of a book when you struggle to remember details of a book?

    I have autism, and a lot of people with autism generally think better when they see pictures (including me), but I feel like I can improve this availability somehow. I'd love to read more, but whenever I try, it's hard for me to remember anything.
     
  2. Fearless A good and beautiful child

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    I kinda-sorta looked this up, just to see if I could find anything about it, and the biggest thing I've found is just to read more in general. Practice makes perfect, after all, and the more you read, the better you'll be. There's a reason we give elementary school kids a reading log to make sure they're reading at least a certain amount. That's not to say I think you're a bad reader, but the advice on this I found applied to all ages.

    Other stuff I found was to try 'finger tracking', which is to follow the words your reading with a finger or a pen or something underneath the words as you're reading them. It also said to try reading things multiple times or to try taking notes. You could also try audio books? Perhaps you're just the sort of person that doesn't learn well from reading, which is a real thing. I, personally, won't retain a thing from listening to someone, but I'll remember everything if it's something I can do myself (such as remembering directions; telling me where something is won't do me any good, but once I've driven there myself, I'll always remember). You said you like things with pictures, so you could also start by just reading lots and lots of comics!

    Idk if this was helpful but it's stuff you can try I guess.
     
  3. Ego Imperium Twilight Town Denizen

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    I can definitely echo the point on rereading things. Even something so small as reading a sentence, or a paragraph, a second (and maybe third time) can help reinforce the content. I don't know how frequently you reread entire books; I know I used to reread everything I had in cycles. Over time, I found that more of the details of the books a I had read stuck with me more after multiple reads. I honestly feel that people that can pick out and retain even the majority of a book's details (quotes, specific wording of sentences, and such) are more the exception rather the rule.

    If you find yourself retaining information better when you have a visual, then you could also try visualizing what you're reading. I'll take a guess that you're mostly concerned about retaining the information in novels and short stories and such (as text books usually have no shortage of visual information). Basically, utilize the descriptions given in the texts as your basis, and practice letting your imagination fill in the rest.
     
  4. SushiKey Destiny Islands Resident

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    Yeah, I've started doing this a bit more. I've noticed a bit better retention of info this way, but it's still not totally staying in my mind. Though, I can imagine how the things went.

    I've been doing this with a book that was made into a movie I saw (The Disaster Artist) and I imagine parts of the book with scenes from the movie, and add in what they left out, and it seems to help. Perhaps if I've seen something like that, it helps, but I'll have to try it more.
     
  5. Technic☆Kitty Hmm

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    I'd actually like to add to this. Visualization is key, especially for me when I'm reading a book or fanfiction. I need to see it happening to actually understand what's going on. More than this, I need to actually be there. Often, while I'm reading, I'll pretend to be a camera man who is capturing the current scene, as opposed to just seeing it as a movie. If I can picture myself close enough to touch the characters, to interact with them, it helps me to retain the information a lot more. Sometimes I'll even put myself in the shoes of a character, visualizing it from their perspective. My only issue is that I get too drawn in to becoming this character and my mind wanders off on its own tangent. I'll spend five minutes playing out a scenario of something that's not even happening. It works though because, upon resuming my reading, the information is now solidified in my mind because I tied it to something I created.

    Basically, for me I need to become part of the story to really take it in. Just try and make yourself a part of the story. You can even invent your own character to come in and interact in each of the scenes. Sort of like an interactive story. Imagine what your character would do or say in response to a scene. I've found this to be very helpful in retaining information on the stories I read.



    Hope this helped.
     
  6. Patman Bof

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