Does anyone else have a bad habit of skipping descriptions in books? (1 Viewer)

[Ahsoka]

I really do have a bad habit of skimming over descriptions in books. I’ll read half a book imagining a character as having blond hair even after there being a description of them, just to realize halfway though in another description that they’ve had black hair this whole time. If I want to read all those descriptions, I have to actually actively try by reading them slowly to process all the info

 

[ChiaraStar169]

nope, not me lol I do have a habit of skimming over "asides". yk the paragraphs that seemingly don't have anything to do weith the story?

 

[TrinityJade]

Usually I don't
But when I do, it's a huge shock for me
Or sometimes I read the description and I deny it
Like one character just gives blonde hair but they have red hair or smth

 

[dark_tranquility]

you mean like the blurb? plot?

 

[HugeBakkaeMotae]

I remember struggling with this when I read Lord of the Rings in my early teens because Tolkien really takes his descriptions seriously, I felt like he took pages to describe every piece of scenery. I'm about to re-read them now and am currently reading 'The Hobbit' which hasn't been an issue so far - but I remember it being a bit more simplistic than LOTR. It's also the fact that they were written in the 30s and 40s so his wording is dated (not without it's charms) which can make things even more confusing.

I don't think I have a problem with long descriptions anymore though but the SONGS, oh my god the songs, I'm much too OCD to skip them but I'm basically half-skimming/speed reading through them. It's rather an ironic thing to say on a music forum but even when listening to music I basically don't hear lyrics at all, it just kind of tunes out and I only care about the sound.



It's probably why I don't enjoy rap but I love electronic music.

 

[Ahsoka]

you mean like the blurb? plot?

Not the plot, just descriptions of how something looks

 

[LoveYooShaSha]

I did this much on Lord of the Rings 1-volume edition when I was a teenager n subsequently. So when LoTR: FoTR movie came out in 2001(mumble mumble yrs after I first read it n at least 3/4 times in yrs since I was surpised/shock by the scene of 'Crebain from the' NSWE/direction I think South thinking I dint rmbr tat from the book at all n wondering why tat was. I went bk to my 1-volume edition n either looked thru the appendix or reread from the beginning again n eventually reached the chapter where 'Crebain' appears/appeared, i still skip(-ped) descriptions in LOTR cos they're keeping from the storyline/characters/dialog/juicy story parts. Hvnt rereadLOTR in abt 10/15 yrs since tho, tried ard tat point n just stalled on my then still in my possession 1-volume edition. Don't rmbr where I left off n can't much motivate myself to re/read any book I left off including A game of thrones/stone of farewell/Malazan/Scott lynch 3rd gentleman b*st*rds bk(might not hv started at all)/rf kuangs 3rd poppy War bk/fonda Lee's 3rd jade war(?) Bk n maybe others as well. The only books I might start are new Jack reacher/dragaera-brust-taltos/gavriel Kay new books/Grisham new legal thriller n maybe Ada Palmer if she writes more sf. New sf/f books/series just seem too much work/little ROI for yhe effort nowadays.too many hrs for uncertain amount of enjoyment/reward for the reading. At least songs/movies/TV I can get instant gratification/biofeedback if I'm enjoying or if I'm bored or just 1 hr to tell if I shd soldier on or not. On my phone I just veg out n listen to the dialogue sometimes without needing to watch the visual portion(n don't feel much missing out, also if I fall asleep like sometimes in the cinema between halfway or 2/3 or 3/4 thru till ard 20/30mins from the end(I usually wake becos the sound hikes up volume as if to warn audience to pay attention, at least tats wag I suspect as I never wake AFTER movie/credits end/start) -sometimes/mostly I also don't feel I missed out on much n don't rewatch or try to find out wat I missed, only rarely do I try mths later to watch bits I fell asleep. This been going on at least since 2012 during I think Avengers Age of ultron or earlier even(maybe I only think it cos I got called on mycell by mom n I answered it just in case-so I watched A:AoU 3 times in cinema each time enjoying it till I fell asleep cos its soooo long. Maybe it's my bad I tried 3 times but other movies in cinema like Prometheus(I think) or movies 14 yrs ago till now it also kept happening, now I sometimes skip the cinema n stream on my phone when available, still happens at ½,⅔,¾ point I fall asleep n wake just 20/30/15 minutes before end but at least I can rewind or just go sleep/nap/rest after tat or without rewinding. It feels like I watched too much in all these yrs n it's too formulaic/nthg unexpected so I don't wanna rewind/rewatch; 'swhy I like crime/dramas TV series cos I'm invested in the characters/storylines even tho it's also predictable.

tldr I skip descriptions in books since LOTR when I was younger during the age of mammoths LOL

edit: i forgot i started to pay attention to writing --neal stephenskn's System of ghe world book 1 or 2 cos it was so evocative/splendiferous, so I'm against anyone knocking his doorstopper books if u want simple or straightforward books there's plenty to read n never run out. Same for me with Martin's GoT n Guy Gavriel Kay's World of 2 moons tho some reason hit or miss for me(every few books I just don't vibe w/the story/characters/setting but when he hits its right on the feels starting w/Tigana n the last 4 Wo2M books[loosely related, tho previously I dropped off hard with 2 continuations; maybe he got better-also 1 was direct continuation/conclusion n the other was few hundred yrs later(?). His 1st trilogy was also his learning curve I feel.hes gotten greatly better with time. Last 4 books also I think skipped around in time/place n characters tho some overlapping n call backs to previous book before last 4. End edit

 

[ChiaraStar169]

Usually I don't
But when I do, it's a huge shock for me
Or sometimes I read the description and I deny it
Like one character just gives blonde hair but they have red hair or smth

you must be talking about my mc's hair in Never Been Kissed lol idk why I made her hair red when she was giving blonde the whole time

 

[TrinityJade]

you must be talking about my mc's hair in Never Been Kissed lol idk why I made her hair red when she was giving blonde the whole time

YES lol
y/n ahhh character
all y/ns have blonde hair for some reason

 

[dark_tranquility]

Not the plot, just descriptions of how something looks

Ah ok. I tend not too to be honest
If I skip I know nothing of the characters in the story
if I assume a person it just feels awkward