If the title is confusing, I don’t blame you. I wasn’t sure what to call this post myself, and I’m not really sure how to start it…..So, I guess I’ll start by describing something I’ve recently observed–namely, that with certain media, if I don’t consume them regularly, they can be really difficult to get into. This applies specifically to mostly movie, TV shows, books, and writing–as in, taking the time to write something like this. However, suppose I watch a movie and then another movie right after that. If I see a movie soon after (say, the next day or two), the difficulty to sit watch the film isn’t so great. The same applies to books. If I read a book, and then another soon after, getting started and then finishing the book isn’t so difficult. Something applies to an individual book as well–namely, if I’m reading the book regularly and not really short spurts, then reading seems to flow. On the other hand, if my reading of the book is intermittent and each reading session is relatively short, reading can feel like a slog. It’s almost as if a type of momentum begins, making reading or watching a film easier. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what do you think is going on?

I should add that this doesn’t apply to some media–for example, social media like youtube videos. That’s actually not surprising because these media have an instant appeal. They don’t require patience for a build up of interest. However, this also doesn’t apply to newspaper or magazine articles, or even music–at least for me. The ease at which I consume both doesn’t require frequent consumption. This seems a bit odd. Perhaps, the relatively minimal time requirement explains this. Also, for all these media, getting to the interesting parts doesn’t take very long.

One odd thing: you would think the same applies to short stories, for similar reasons I described here. For me, that’s not the case. My guess is that short stories still require sometime to establish the characters and the situation. Some patience is required. Additionally, once I get settled into the story, it’s over. That can be annoying, especially if one is going through a collection of short stories. In contrast, once novels establish themselves, you, as the reader, will live in that world for a while and after the novel establishes itself, if the storytelling is strong, the novel can easily carry you along.

I’m not sure if anyone else has experienced this, but if you have, I’d be curious in hearing your thoughts.