Read better: 6 ways to improve your reading.

It's difficult to be a good writer without reading, and you become a great writer by reading widely and well. What I'm going to do is show you a few ways to read better. Reading often and widely provides many benefits. It widens your literary scope, gives you an inherent understanding of good writing, makes you look cultured when you do it on the train, and provides a way to pass the time usefully on the toilet.

This article will show you some easy things to do to read better and improve your reading experience. These suggestions have come from years of practice. Take them, shape them, improve on them, and make them your own.

1. Mouth.
Your mouth is an important reading organ. Science has recently confirmed that, in addition to being an important source of taste and smell, filling your mouth with delicious foods stimulates certain areas of your brain that increases perception, synaptic firing and opens your mind to new ideas.

Interestingly, the same Science indicates that the benefits are directly correlated to the deliciousness of the food. The lesson we can take from this? That snacking on whatever makes you happiest will make you read better, whether it's chocolate, a fruit platter, some cheese on toast or a full five-course gourmet dinner. Get chomping!

2. Bum.
Your bum is one of the most important secondary reading organs, and is tragically overlooked by many readers. Bum and lower back comfort is essential for superior reading. A combination of firm but soft furnishings for your posterior is a must. If necessary, carve out a space in your environment reserved exclusively for your support and pleasure.

Experienced readers will tell you it takes some time to carve a butt-groove into any given layout of pillows and upholstery. Therefore, I recommend staking your claim on any shared furniture. Don't be shy about this – the excellence of your readinghood depends on it! Friends and family members must be educated (a firm, open-palmed blow is best) as to which spaces they can and can't occupy on couches and lounge suites. If you don't have a comforting array of cushions to nestle into, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you purchase some immediately.

3. Ears
By the end of the article, you'll realize that reading is a whole-body experience. Music can either enhance or ruin your reading experiences. Don't be put off by the array of options presented to you by including some auditory background while you read. Confident control of the sound system will ensure the best results. Here's a few quick tips:

Avoid the radio. You don't have any control over what's coming up, and exposing yourself to new music simultaneously with new reading will make absorbing both harder.
Minimize intense, ballad-style lyrics. Tool , The Mountain Goats and Jethro Tull are all great for singing along to in the car, but you want to be focusing on the poetry of the written text.
Try and match tempos. A Matt Reilly or Dan Brown thriller suggests a faster pacing then the gentler meanderings of Jane Austen or Tolkien .
Consider genres of music. It's difficult to go past classical, with its non-specific emotive pull, smooth transitions and satisfactory climaxes. I can also suggest melodic rock, comfortably foreign operas and ambient chill. My current reading play-list comprises of mostly Deep Forest and Buddha-Bar , with a little Enya on the side. (Don't tell anyone!)

4. Ammunition
Interruptions can be minimized but, unfortunately, never eliminated entirely. Children demand attention. Blundering partners pester you with inane questions. Pets want to be walked or petted. Visitors grow resentful of your contented silence.

For this reason, I suggest keeping a small collection of throwable objects at hand. You want something that can be hefted easily in one hand, allowing for uninterrupted reading while you deal with any interruptions in a grand manner. If impact is made, you're ideally hoping to shock and awe without significant wounding. If skin gets broken, you might actually have to stop reading in order to apply bandages, so steer away from rocks and metallic objects. Over years of experimentation, I've found juggling balls and hacky sacks to be the ideal interruption-deterrents. Fist-sized, solid enough to throw accurately, and hefty enough to deliver a clear message to the interrupter without causing worse than mild bruising.

5. Glimmer.
Dark and cosy corners seem romantic, but they lack a vital element to successful long-term reading pleasure: light. What your parents told you about reading in dark light damaging your eyes was a lie, just like everything else they said. What is true is that reading with less than optimal light makes your eyes work harder. Why make life hard for yourself? Tired eyes means you'll need to stop reading faster, and that's practically criminal!

Make life easy for yourself. Organise some light so it's shining down onto the page at a good angle. It doesn't need to be garishly bright, but keep what you're reading well illuminated and you can extend your reading time by a good few hours.

In the same vein, if your eyes do get a little sore, that's a good indication to have a quick stretch break. Flick your eyes around the room and focus on some objects at different distances. Maybe even have a quick loo break, or grab another snack if you aren't being waited on hand or foot. No point in tiring yourself out when there's an infinite range of amazing books just begging to be read!

6. Soak.
Are you ready for an even greater indulgence? Good! Then go give reading in the bath a go. Don't have a bath? Make friends with someone who does, and offer to cook them dinner, or lend them some of your library, in exchange for some of their hot water and monopolized use of their bathroom for a few hours. It's entirely worth it.

Bath reading can take a little while to get used to. Avoid taking your more valuable books into the bath, at least for the first few trips. Remember that water will trickle down your arms, so if you reach out for something think about what's going to be under your hand when you do. Below is some recommended equipment:

At least two fluffy towels
Hand towels positioned close to the edge of the bath
Portable CD player
Bubble bath or bath salts
Rubber Ducky or other bath time companion
Bath-proof snack foods – carrot and celery sticks for the healthy, jelly beans and licorice all-sorts for the rest of us.

So there you have it – some thoroughly researched, personally recommended, scientifically proven ways to read better.

Have I forgotten anything? Let me know by heading to the contact page and sounding off!

Otherwise...

Go read!

(Then go write!)

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