How do you experience reading?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 พ.ค. 2024
- Talking about how I experience reading - visualization and subvocalization. Let me know how you experience reading!
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Fascinating how different people read and experience reading.
I find it so fascinating!
I'm 72 years old and I love reading. Now I really didn't experience reading until I started reading the classics. I fine them to have more substance, then the books I was reading namely thrillers. It got that they all seam to be the same different charters but at the end of the day same plot. I love mysteries Christy, Hammond.
I subvocalise and completely visualise when I read. Great topic.
Thanks for sharing 😊
This is a fun question! I visualize characters and setting while I read, and I revel in long descriptive passages (the more sensory details, the better!). I like to pay attention to who is telling a story, and I'm always very aware of when an author has left out those details (either because that's part of the mystery or because they neglected to give the reader all the pertinent information).
Love seeing The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex on your bookshelves. That was one of my favorite books of the year. ☺
Thanks for sharing!
I'll be rereading The Lamplighters soon for a book club (I really enjoyed it the first time around 😊)
You have described my reading style..
Ohhh, this is such a great discussion topic!
Im shocked because I have never heard the term subvocalising but I do it. I assumed everyone did! I think I hear my voice even with dialogue but im not sure now 😂 when I was in primary school learning to read there was this one girl who couldn't read in her head so when we supposed to be reading she'd whisper her book aloud and we could all hear. The teachers told her to stop and tried to explain reading in your head and she got really upset and cried. I always remember it because I remember thinking explaining how to read in your head is pretty difficult!
In terms of visualisation I visualise everything except faces. I see a full room or landscape when described and how people move through it but I never picture an actual face. So I get more annoyed when a building or room isnt how I imagined it in an adaptation. Its very interesting what you said about reading speed and how affected that could be by visualisation. I definitely read slower if the writing is v rich and descriptive but I'm not sure if that's because of visualisation or just complexity of the writing.
Aw, the poor girl! It's really difficult trying to describe it! As you can probably tell from my video 😂🙈
Interesting that you don't picture faces. If I do try to picture anything, faces would definitely be the most difficult thing for me to picture.
This is such an interesting topic. I don't visualise apart from the occasional image will come to me, usually a location that hasn't had its appearance directly described, but there is an evocative description of atmosphere. I don't generally subvocalise, but I will at the beginning of a book as I'm getting into, or for something complex. It's always my voice, but if it's written in a dialectic way quite well, then it's my voice with a different accent.
Interesting! Thank you for sharing 😊
So interesting how unique reading is to each person. Each book is different but if I am soaking the book up and it’s written in such a way then it’s like I am sucked into the world and it is like a movie.
I need to feel connected in order for it to happen and it also depends on the style etc. Maybe this is why some books I enjoy more than others and if I haven’t felt like it’s got me in those ways.🤯 I have never really thought about it before 😂😂
I definitely subvocalise too.
So fascinating! Thanks for sharing 😊
Wow. I wouldn't have thought about this. But now that you mention it..... I visualize when I'm reading. Especially when people, places and things are described. I'm a creative person so maybe it comes easy for me. I'm also a very tactile person. I usually don't read out loud, but sometimes if I need clarification I do. This is all so interesting. ❤
Thanks for sharing 😊
Ah this is so interesting Jennifer! I think I also just thought everyone experienced reading the same. When you said you didn't visualise what you read I thought "Wait, what?!?" So we're all doing this differently then, how fascinating is that! You can probably tell from my response that I'm a massive visualiser. I haven't read one book that I haven't conjured up everything in my mind. I also fill in all the gaps and don't at all need things to be described for me to create what I feel I see or how I want to see it. My mind just naturally does it and I don't feel it takes me any effort to do it or hinders my reading speed, I've just always done it. When I was younger and I couldn't quite "picture" a character, I used to look in magazines for inspiration because I couldn't read without knowing who was who in my mind. I would find it impossible to not do this, my mind would just wander off and I'd go imagining whether I wanted to or not. I don't feel like I have any control over it and haven't experienced reading any other way. It's absolutely like a movie in my mind. Oh yes, and I've got all the different voices and accents of all the characters in there too, but I find this slows things down. I tend to "set the scene" this way but then as I get more and more into the book my own voice takes over. If really significant or emotional things happen with the characters I tend to put "their" voice back on. Haha.
This is so interesting, thanks for sharing! It's funny how we assume everyone experiences it in the same way until someone tells us otherwise 😊
This is a really fascinating discussion. I had to think about this, but I do visualize and vocalize. One way I know if a book is well-written, is if the voices I hear have accents.
Interesting! It would probably make my reading more interesting if I did 'hear' different accents! Good point about the writing, that makes sense.
Many times it depends on the plot. I do read fast in a suspenseful book to get to the solution. In some instances, I will reread the book at a slower pace to get a fuller experience. And while I don’t see a movie in my mind, I do form pictures as I read. Sometimes I avoid movies of books I like because I like my pictures better. 🤭 My 11year old granddaughter is the “movie” person and doesn’t even like to look at illustrations since they disturb her own visualization. 😎 I don’t usually have a different voice for characters unless the author has given us a dialect. Interesting topic! Lots to think about!
Interesting! Even though I don't visualise as I read, I can understand preferring your own pictures over any illustrations or a movie.
I naturally visualise and vocalise when I’m reading which is why I’m very much in favour of character based books and I struggle with adaptations
Interesting! Thanks for sharing Emily 😊
Books are definitely like movies in my mind! Somehow I guess I took for granted that it is like that for everybody! Very fascinating to hear how you experience reading!! I just cannot really understand what it would be like! And I have always loved writing stories. And I read fast. So this is just how my brain works. Without effort. Automatically. I'm not sure I understood your second question (English is not my language), but since it is a movie in my head, I am just "watching" and "listening". I'm not "talking". The characters are. With their own voices. And I absolutely automatically fill in the gaps. If a voice or a person isn't well described I see and hear how they look and sound anyway. I too tend to dislike TOO many descriptive details. I think it has to do with my lack of patience, and also maybe that it gets booring when my imagination don't get to work.
Thanks for sharing! It sounds you do subvocalise if you 'hear' the characters voices as you read. I only 'hear' my own voice in my head, rather than different voices for different characters.
@@jenniferlovesbooks But when you're watching a movie, you are not participating yourself, are you. And to read a book is exactly like that. It's a movie in my mind and I don't experience that I'm doing anything. I'm doing nothing. Just like watching a movie. I'm just a spectator. Watching and listening at the same time. I guess my imagination automatically creates everything from the words I'm reading immediately. I don't know how to describe it better than it's exactly like watching a movie!😃 I don't have to think. It's just there. Moving pictures and sounds. Like reality. In my mind. Yes, in fact, when I think about it, it's more like reality than watching a movie because it is 100% inside me, not on a screen.
@@juanap132 wow!! That is so different to my experience it kind of blows my mind 🤯
@@jenniferlovesbooks And your way of experience reading blows my mind!!😀
I love this topic, it's fascinating! So, I subvocalise in my own voice and visualise, but the pictures are not very detailed. I'd say, like looking through a milky glass and everything is a bit blurred, but you can tell what is what. Sometimes, when I read something that was written by a person whose voice I am very familiar with, I will sort of hear them in my mind.
I had a lot of conversations about this with my mom and my aunt. My aunt sees everything highly detailed, as in she can describe everyones nose and the pattern on the fabric. I am a but blurry and my mom has aphantasia (not being able to visualise), so her reading is only words. What I still don't understand is how she draws and paints so well without being able to see a vision of what she wants to do. She can't explain and we're always both a bit confused after these conversations! 😂
Wow, that's so interesting about your mum! The brain is a fascinating thing 😊
So interesting! And yes, I am going to do a video on this soon. I find this stuff so interesting.
I can't wait for your video, it's fascinating how we all experience reading differently!
@@jenniferlovesbooks I mean, I filmed it today and, unedited, it’s a full hour long, so we’ll see 😅
Haha, amazing, honestly I'd happily watch a full hour 😂
Yes I do have voices too xx
The survey was very interesting! I also voted I don't visualize and I hear my own voice all the time. Fascinating topic 📖
Thanks for sharing 😊 Sounds like we are pretty similar.
This is sooo interesting. Thank you for your video on this.
Visualization - I am a big visualiser when i read, in fact going back and remembering a book I will remember my image in my head of particular scenes. This can get messed up when I watch an adaptation either before or after, but just thinking about some books I read last year, not adaptation, I can clearly see scenes in my head reminding me of the plot. They aren't always accurate to the detail on a reread though! I know my brain does work in a more visual way, I describe it to colleagues as like having a flow chart or process.map in my head when I deal with work stuff ... But maybe that's rather weird.
Relating to - is it a film being played? I suppose it is usually but some books it may be more of a series of pictures with narration over the top (memoirs are often more this for me), depends on the writing style.
The one thing I don't tend to do is clearly picture the faces, not in a spooky no face way but I often won't fill in that level of detail or remember it at least, more fuzzy not clear, so if I feel that the actor isn't right it's more body, hair colour, etc. however I have also read a book where the description was so clear and similar to an actor I was aware of, they filled the face space.
Sub-vocalization or if visualization is a film you create in your head then this is the audio book you produce in your head. I'm hit and miss oddly enough as it can depend on writing style and how readable it is, nor readable/easy to read I start reading so fast I stop sub-vocalizing and read without it, but have to be in the book, and racing through. Hard books I sub-vocalize. And yes I do it as full cast not as me being narrator.
This is fascinating! Especially how you can remember images from a book you've read. Interesting on the faces, a few people have said similar and if I were to visualise anything I think I'd struggle with faces the most. Thanks for sharing 😊
I think about this often. I used to be able to visualise everything when reading as a child/early teenager and had a really good imagination. I could switch between subvocalization and/or just skimming over the words and visualizing instead. The latter was faster for me. There was a marked difference and I remember asking my mam which way was the best to read. (I must have been quite young). Now as an adult I can't switch over from subvocalization, and don't visualise everything. I can visualise some things but it's not the same. Im not sure what happened to my imagination but it's almost gone. I do keep trying though. Reading as a youngster was soo much better.
That's so interesting how there can be a link between visualisation and subvocalisation and also how your reading experience can change as you get older, thanks for sharing!
@@jenniferlovesbooks It is interesting. I do wonder if it's an age thing, or just a me thing 🤔😂
@@tik2276 😂🤔
This was so fascinating! Information processing is such a great and really varied experience. I'm definitely quite far down the aphantasiac side, so it was neat to hear where you are similar or different. I've definitely got no images or voices 😂
I never realised how wildly different people's experience of reading could be 🤯 Absolutely fascinating!
I kinda picture stuff. More broad strokes than a detailed movie. However, rereads tend to be more vivid.) I definitely subvocalize when reading print only but most times I use audiobooks and therefore don't. I just read a book without an audiobook and I heard my voice in my head doing a terrible Scottish accent for the character. (She was Scottish so it wasn't random.)
Haha, I'm glad it was appropriate for the book and you weren't just randomly hearing a Scottish accent 😂
Loved this video, thankq. I thought everyone had images in their minds while reading, found it fascinating that you didn’t but we can’t all be the same I suppose.
Also I’m a slow reader, I read every word on the page where I found that many people skim over the pages and get the gist of what’s happening and read so much faster but I can’t take the story in if I don’t read every word x
It's so interesting how varied our experiences can be! Thanks for sharing 😊
I can't visualise, I just cant! So I've never visualised books, I can read that the author has mentioned curly hair, I'm aware of what curly hair looks like on a human head but I wouldn't be able to jigsaw the rest of the descriptive phases to create a full face. Rather funnily my partner who is also a reader is baffled by this, on of our very early dates was almost spent entirely discussing this topic! I'll be showing them this video x
Haha, I love this! Sounds like a very interesting date!
I visualize some settings or atmospheres, but it is not always given to me by the author. I guess my imagination just makes it up based on vibes? It is passive, not an active effort. Agreed with you that I would rely more on a floor map than any descriptions. I don't think my mind vocalizes anything unless it is written in an accent/dialect in the text.
Interesting! My lack of imagination must contribute to me not readily visualising anything. Thanks for sharing 😊
do you think your enjoyment of the murder mystery genre is amplified by the fact that you’re able to go one step deeper towards visualising what’s going on? I’m very similar to you, certain writing styles work really well for me but for the most part my imagination is awful! but then with most of my favourite books (Ohio, Still Life, Great Circle) I can visualise the characters and settings really well, and those are the books that stay with me and impact me the most!
as for subvocalisation, I only hear my own voice too… which is a shame when you think about the fact that means all characters have a perpetual Lancashire accent hahaha
Sorry for another comment but I kept thinking about the visualisation thing. You said you'd picture a room if it was important to the plot like in a locked room mystery. So would you visualise a fight or battle scene? I don't often read books with that type of action bit when I do I definitely read those scenes slower so I can picture exactly what the bodies are doing. Would you picture those type of scenes?
It's hard to say for sure but I don't think I would picture that. I only do it for a locked room type situation because I'd be trying to figure out a solution to the murder. So I probably wouldn't bother for a fight scene because the description will tell me all I need to know....if that makes any sense at all 🙈
I must admit I visualise detectives in crime novels and avoid television adaptions afterwards. For example Ian Rankin's Rebus - the new one on TV looks nothing like what I imagine. Enjoy your channel by the way.
One TV detective who I feel is pretty accurate to how I imagine them is Vera based on the books by Ann Cleeves.
I find that I don't see words as I read, after the first few words I end up immersed in the visualisation or 'film' my mind creates
Thanks for sharing 😊 Sounds like we experience reading very differently!
I visualise places, nature, clothing and so on but not faces. People are just a sort of blank space instead of a face! Not sure what that says about me 😬
Interesting! If I try to visualise, I think faces are the most difficult for me.
You j