Troubleshoot Your Reading: A Guide to Overcoming Reading Slumps
by Shelly Foreshaw
Some books meet you where you are. Others require a little strategy.
If your reading life has felt off lately—distracted, sluggish, or strangely joyless—you’re going to want to diagnose the problem. The right fix might be simpler than you think.
Here are some common causes for a reading slump and how to fix them.
#1. You’re having trouble concentrating.
Diagnosis: Narrative Attention Deficit
You sit down to read, but your mind flickers elsewhere. Paragraphs blur. Sentences slide past. Your attention span isn’t ready for long form content, the book isn’t holding you—and maybe nothing will. So you get up to eat. You do the dishes again. You pick up the book and put it down, then pick up the book and put it down, then pick up the book and put it down.
Prescription: Find the narrator who insists on taking you with them.
Some books are designed to grip you from the first line, with prose that’s urgent, lean, and emotionally direct. When my own concentration falters, I turn to Bret Easton Ellis—not for moral instruction, but for pace. His narrators don’t wait for you to catch up; they just go. A great indie author pick for fast-paced fiction is Sherri L. Dodd and her Murder, Tea, and Crystals trilogy.
Some books feel like films. Chuck Palahniuk once said he set out to write for people who loved video games—not traditional readers. The result was Fight Club. Books like this aren’t just fast; they’re immersive, built for people whose attention is pulled in all directions. (RPG fantasy fans: Check out Veil Online!)
And seriously—keep an eye on debuts! Something written before the author had the luxury (or burden) of refinement. In my reading life, their books always seem to move so fast—because they must!—and the energy is contagious. When in doubt, follow the momentum. Boxcutters by John Chrostek fits that mold!
#2. You just can’t seem to get started.
Diagnosis: Entry Resistance
You’ve picked out the book, maybe even opened it once or twice—but somehow, starting feels like such a task. The first page hasn’t drawn you in, and the thought of returning to it already feels like work.
Read past the resistance. Commit to a minimum page count on your first attempt—fifteen pages, twenty, maybe forty if you’ve got the time. Enough to cross the initial threshold and allow the narrative to begin unfolding. Often, the real problem isn’t the book itself but the inertia of beginning. The second time you pick it up, the world of the story will already be faintly familiar, and that makes returning easier.
Extra, Spicy Tip: Skip the prologue or introduction. Don’t waste your reading energy on the preamble—save it for the actual text. You can always return to it later, once the book has had a chance to speak for itself.
Need more convincing to get started? Here are some of the biggest benefits of reading.
#3. It feels like you don’t have enough time.
Diagnosis: Literary Delusion
We are made up of time. It never changes. 24 hours, every day. There are moments, there are small pockets; these are the little times.
Those books you’ve been wanting to read might feel too daunting. The chapters might be too long. You might feel like you can’t commit at the outset to finishing a full book in a specific amount of time.
Prescription: Reach for short stories. They offer the satisfaction of completion without the long-term commitment. They are so often spaces for authors to take creative risks—testing ideas, styles, or narrative experiments. The best of them come with sharpness: a sense that the story is being held taut by its brevity.
They also linger! Since the author doesn’t have space to expand on every detail, you end up doing some of the imaginative work yourself—filling in the emotional terrain, sketching out the lives that unfold just beyond the final line, while you’re doing your busy work around the house or in your life. It’s a kind of co-authorship. This not only activates your inner world, but it also leaves you with compact, vivid narratives that tend to resurface days later in conversation or thought.
Best of all, short stories can lead you back to longer reading. They awaken the part of you that craves story, and once the appetite returns, reaching for a novel feels less like a chore and more like a continuation. You have the time; you just have to make it. Smartly.
Plays can also offer something unique. Unlike short stories, which can be jagged or experimental, plays often dwell in deep emotional and psychological space. They are less concerned with the outer plot than with what the characters are wrestling with internally. There’s immediacy to them—dialogue, tension—that creates a vivid sense of life unfolding.
Anton Chekov and the American classics are especially good here. Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller are often described as psychological writers—not in an academic sense, but in an intuitive, emotional one. Their work grips you not because of the plots, but because of the emotional clarity and quiet devastation they manage to evoke in just a few acts. You leave not just with a story, but with a mood that stays with you.
#4. You are bored by your current book.
Diagnosis: Narrative Drift
The prose stretches on without much movement—neither in plot nor in cadence. You find yourself drifting, rereading the same lines, or worse, skipping ahead without really absorbing anything.
Prescription: If you’re reading leisurely, don’t be afraid to move on. I don’t care if you’re 200 pages into your 400 page book. It’s still going to feel too long if you’re not enjoying yourself. Sure you can’t add it to your finished pile for the year, but sometimes reading slumps are specific to the book. Move on. There’s better books waiting for you, like these ones.
If you’re reading as an assignment or feel like you have to read the book, go for a walk. Pace up and down your room, your hallway, your garden—anywhere that allows for a bit of steady, uninterrupted movement. The physical rhythm can help impose structure where the writing offers none. It keeps you alert and engaged, and paradoxically, heightens your focus. With the mind slightly occupied by movement, your attention on the text sharpens. What seemed shapeless on the page starts to take on a rhythm of its own.
#5. You feel like you’re lacking momentum.
Diagnosis: Passive Absorption Mode
Some books don’t offer natural pauses—long chapters, no section breaks, no clear arc. You’re not reading to savor the prose; you’re reading to understand, to absorb, or simply to finish.
Prescription: Read in public. A subway ride introduces “organic” interruptions—someone getting on or off, a shift in the carriage, a dog barking in the distance. These interruptions, rather than breaking your focus, can create a strange, dreamlike absorption. The plot lodges itself more firmly in your mind, and you often retain more than you expect. Alternatively, the ambient distractions can produce a kind of tunnel-vision concentration—as if your mind is working harder to hold onto the thread of the story.
This approach works especially well for lighter or less stylistically rich books, the kind you don’t necessarily want to sit down and savor, but still want to read through with momentum.
If you’re prone to dizziness or public transit isn’t an option, replicate the effect in a café or bar—ideally in the evening, when the hum of conversation is steady and low. The surrounding life creates texture and contrast with the text.
#6. You’re feeling intimidated by the classics.
Diagnosis: Literary Stage Fright
You’ve been meaning to read them—Dostoevsky, Proust, & co—but something about their reputation, the page count, or the way people talk about them makes you hesitate. You want to admire but are afraid you won’t understand them—or worse, that you might not enjoy them.
Prescription: Begin with the author’s shorter work. Novellas, short stories, essays. Just get a sense of their voice, concerns, and style. A single story can introduce you to the atmosphere of their work without requiring a major commitment. It builds familiarity and, more importantly, appetite.
Once you’ve had a taste, you may find you want to read the longer works—not out of obligation, but curiosity. Most of these stories are available online or in collected editions. Think of them as literary aperitifs—sharp, suggestive, and much easier to approach.
If you want to read Robin Wall Kimmerer for example, author of the hefty but incredible Braiding Sweetgrass, start with The Serviceberry.
#7. The book you have to read is too difficult.
Diagnosis: The Comprehension Stall
You’re reading the same paragraph for the third time and still can’t quite tell what it’s trying to say. The prose is dense, the terminology unfamiliar, and the argument elusive.
Prescription: Begin with the conclusion of the chapter or section—this is where the author often distills their central claim. Once you know where they’re headed, you’ll be better prepared to trace the path they take to get there. Next, skim the chapter to identify key terms that you don’t yet know. Take the time to look these up before your proper read to not interrupt your flow later.
When you return to the full chapter, you’ll find the argument clearer, the reading smoother, and your focus far less fragmented.
#8. You’re reading the wrong format.
Diagnosis: Paperback Inaccessibility
I love physical books. New book smell, old book smell; I welcome it all. I love to listen to the gentle swishing of the page as I turn it to find out what happens next. I love placing it face-out on my bookshelf or nightstand and carrying it by my side as I venture to my comfy spot.
But you don’t always feel uncomfortable reading in public, or you need to turn the light off because your partner is asleep.
Prescription: Experiment with a new format.
E-readers can be great for public reading. Not only might some of them fit in your pocket, but if you whip out your Kindle at your kid’s sporting event, it might just look like you’re on your phone like so many others.
E-readers are excellent to fall asleep by too. If you read a paperback, you need the light on. With e-readers, you can lie in bed, read with only one hand, and fall asleep naturally without having to interrupt it by turning off the light. (Be warned though: you may drop it on your face.)
And audiobooks open up a whole new world of possibilities for readers! The time-sensitive reader can do the dishes, put the clothes away, even go to the gym while they’re reading. Nonfiction books make for great audiobooks because it doesn’t matter much if you tune out for a paragraph or two. Give it a shot!
What’s causing your reading slump? Let me know in the comments!
About the Author
Having worked as a playwright in Berlin, Shelly Foreshaw now splits her time between Germany and the UK while working as a freelance writer. She’s currently in the process of publishing her first novella.
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