There is no doubt that reading is important. It can be beneficial in so many ways. I may be a bit biased since I am going to school to be an English teacher, but reading really is the best thing you can do for yourself. It takes you away from reality, where you can relax and enjoy a good story. It is also a great way to increase mental stimulation. Reading can increase your ability to be empathetic and reduce significant stress.
Try your best to set aside time throughout your day to read. One of the greatest joys of reading: it can be done anywhere. Whether you are waiting for a bus or about to go to bed, take those ten extra minutes to read. When you make this a habit, you will not only improve your vocabulary skills and comprehension, but become more knowledgeable and develop stronger analytical cognitive skills.Â
If you don’t necessarily enjoy picking out a random novel and reading it, you’re not alone. Oftentimes, reading can be discouraging because you’re reading the wrong type or level of book. Imagine I am a 6th grader trying to read and comprehend a novel that is at the 9th grade level, like Shakespeare. It may be too difficult to read and you will not be able to follow along with the ongoing events. It is important to select a novel that is appropriate to your reading level. If I find a book intriguing and I want to know if it is at my level or not, a good way to see this is to open up a book and read a random page. When doing this, follow the five finger rule. With every word that you do not know, hold up a finger. If there are more than five words on the page that you do not know, then it is more likely too advanced for your current reading level. This would make the book harder to comprehend, and you would not end up getting the same joy out of it.Â
On top of that, I believe that everyone should be able to see themselves as the main character. It is important to know what type of book you are reading. My family is from Asia, so reading stories with the main character who is Asian American gives me that sense of connection and makes me want to pick up more books that share a similar genre or characters. If you can see yourself as the protagonist of the story and are genuinely excited to read, I promise you will never want to put a book down again.
I highly encourage you to get into the habit of reading every single day. From comic books to romance novels to plays to scripts, try to get some time in to enhance your skills and stimulate your brain. There are endless amounts of benefits to it. Even for just a few minutes a day, you can improve your writing skills and knowledge and apply those to your career and everyday life. There simply is not a bad outcome out of reading.