As I noticed, after reading 2-8 thousand words a day, after a few days of reading like this, it becomes very difficult for me to read, and I started reading actively lately, before that I only watched TV shows and movies, and now I have a slight headache, the text is floating, I even confuse words. In fact, that’s why I used to read very little, and now I’m so tired of TV shows and movies that I’m willing to force myself to read, even if I have a headache, to become emotionally attached to books instead of just consuming like zombie like I used to.
First off, great job for trying to read more books. Last year, I decided that reading books were a better use of my time than doom scrolling.
Maybe looking at screens is what’s giving you a headache? Why don’t you try to get a book from the library?
Personally I don’t force myself. When I go to the library I walk out with a stack of books. I don’t always get through all of them, because if the content doesn’t draw me in (characters, writing, whatever) I put it down and try a different one.
Reading is a skill. If you enjoy it, just start slow. Personally I do audiobooks but I’m in the cat a lot for work. A lot of my job has me doing something I can listen to them and work at the same time.
Web novels? Are you reading from a screen, e reader or an actual book?
If a real book makes you have headaches and the words are jumping, maybe go to a doctor or have your eyes tested.
If its a screen thats making your head ache, maybe try a e-reader or a real book instead of a device that beams light into your eyes.
I second the e-reader.
E-ink screens are so much nicer on your eyes for long reading.
Yup. I got a e-reader because I liked the idea of having a 100 books in my pocket/backbag. I already had a tablet, so I threw some books in there, I managed to read a couple of pages before giving up and ordering a proper reader.
I read from the screen because I’m used to it, sometimes I try to read paper books, it’s easier to read them, but the problem seems different, perhaps because I’m used to diving too deep into the story, imagining everything that happens on the go, including the smells and voices of the characters? I don’t know, maybe I’m trying to keep too much information in my head and can’t calmly enjoy the text?
3rd-ing the suggestion for an e-reader. On those you can change and enlarge the font, and the screen is much more comfortable to look at (even more comfortable than paper IMO). And remember you are reading for entertainment and pleasure. Stop reading when it stops feeling good! Go do something else.
Are you reading books because you want to, or because to think you HAVE to?
There’s no point in suffering through a leisure activity you don’t enjoy.
It’s not that I don’t like it, I like it, it’s just that I’m too used to TV shows and movies with music, which is a bit unusual, although interesting in its own way, it’s just that I find it difficult to enjoy the events in the text, there are no pictures, no character voices, and when I try to revive it in my fantasy, I get tired quickly.
Are you completely unable to see images or hear voices in your mind’s eye/ear? No matter what you read? And it’s always been like that?
Or do you just get fatigued after a while? But with effort can have a visual or audible imagination?
The former could be something called aphantasia, which is when someone is born without the ability to visualize things in their head
The latter might just a skill thing. When I was about 10, I had to train myself both to sharpen my imagination, but also not to fall asleep reading every time. I remember doing this distinctly, just constant practice with my imagination. It got a lot easier as I practiced.
Audiobooks!
Shameless plug, mine is free right now on Spotify! https://lemmy.world/post/45753894
Please check it out if you have the inclination!
I started listening to audiobooks at the end of last summer, and I have gone through 30+ books, with a focus on classic sci fi
Sounds like some kind of medical condition. I’d look into that, 2-8 thousand words is basically nothing. Eye problems, dyslexia etc.
When I have trouble concentrating on what I’m reading be it for work, education, or pleasure, as long as I’m in a space that allows for it, I’ll read aloud. It’s surprising how much more enjoyable/bearable this makes it.
Also, if fiction, you can practice your acting skills during character dialogue, which can be fun/mildly embarrassing.
No shame in taking a break once in a while. Especially if this is new to you. You have to give your brain and eye muscles time to adjust.
Do something else when you feel like it’s getting too much.
If you wear glasses or contacts that are for seeing at a distance, it’s hard for your eyes to focus close-up for very long. Same for if you don’t wear glasses at all, if you are reading a lot. So depending on your situation you may just need to take your glasses off while reading, or pick up some cheap reading glasses at the drugstore–making sure to get the right type for easily focusing on the page, or even get bifocals. Best bet is to get an eye exam and tell the optometrist what you’ve said here, so they can figure out what your best options are.
This is one of the things that has me reading less in the modern era. My eyes getting worse in old age combined with ubiquitus media that actually makes me more inclined to use downtime to try breathing meditation or just relax into not doing anything which I feel is just more important to do now than ever before. When your juggling mulitple things constantly it just seems good to not do anything.
Practice more?
8000 words at 300 words per page is less then 30 pages, that’s really not a lot.
As someone who migrated from a story addiction in books to one in TV shows, I recommend you look inwards. For the medical issue I recommend a doctors visit.
I’ve been there, with a mild astygmatism that went undetected for decades. The only signs were headaches and trouble focusing after looking at the same thing (books, computer screens) for a long time.
Schedule an appointment with an eye doctor to have your vision checked, and explain this issue. Our eyes and brains are very good at compensating for minor problems, and it can even slip by an eye exam. But looking at something close and fine, like a book, for several hours can tire out and overwhelm the eye muscles, until they ache and stop working well, unless you rest.
If you live in a dysfunctional nation without affordable access to an eye doctor, a pair or reading glasses may help by making focusing easier.
Are you reading physical books or screen text?
I find it much easier to read print on paper.
I read from the monitor screen, since the books that interest me cannot be bought in stores, except online, but I don’t have much extra money for purchases in 2026, and I am already used to it, sometimes I read paper books that I have at home, and yes, it is a little more convenient and pleasant to read, but it is still difficult for me to read more than two thousand words a day, Sometimes it seems to me that the problem is either that I’m too immersed in the story, or I’m trying too hard to keep the picture in my head through the text.
Instead of plowing on through, stop and let the story work on you.
It’s fine for you to sit and just think about the story.
If you want to let the world build in your mind slowly, that’s fine.
Isthere a local library you can get physical books from?
