As someone who runs a book-focused website, the question of whether skimming (also known as skim reading) is okay has lingered in the back of my mind since I started writing reviews for The Steady Read.
If you want the short answer, then just know how, when, and why you read are entirely up to you. If you want the long answer, then stick with me throughout this post.
What Is Skimming?
Skimming, or skim reading, is the act of quickly glossing over text. Depending on the person, this may mean quickly scanning for key terms and information within text, or it can mean skipping over entire sentences, paragraphs, or chapters.
In essence, skimming is like reading with shortcuts.
Why Do People Skim?
Reasons can vary based on context. For students and studiers, they may skim through various books, essays, and articles looking for sections on specific topics or sentences that fit what they are looking for.
As for non-studiers who skim, it usually just comes down to boredom or time constraints, such as not enjoying a novel they’re reading, or trying to get through a chapter before their commute or work break ends. Generally, however, most readers will not skim unless they really have to, or feel forced to.
Skimming Fiction
Fiction is not a genre of works that get skimmed over too often, because people tend to read fiction for pleasure; immersion, escapism, tagging along for whatever the characters get embroiled in this time.
Skimming fiction is also obtuse because stories are typically linear and expect readers to continually build context and information from previous chapters. If you read the opening chapters, skimmed heavily, and then go to the end chapters, you could be confused as to why certain characters are dead, broken up, married, whatever else.
Those that skim fiction tend to just read quickly. They might not care for every line of dialogue, but they give them a quick glance over in order to make sure they don’t miss the good parts. Personally, I rarely ever skim fiction unless I really loathe the novel or am on a crunch to get through it. It might be the same for you if you borrowed it from a library or friend.
Skimming Non-Fiction
It’s likely that non-fiction falls victim to skimming more often, largely due to the genre’s heavy emphasis on information, details, and background history.
It’s perfectly normal to skim over stuff you have no interest in, is irrelevant, or you may already know. For example, you’re reading a lengthy book about World War II, but you already know a good deal about the context of why it started—go ahead and skip over those chapters.
Alternatively, you might do what I do in some cases and skip over needless details. I did this in Bradt’s North Korea guide when it came to information about helplines, addresses, and certain locations, because there is an extremely unlikely chance I will ever find myself in North Korea. So, naturally, I trimmed the fat and saved myself some time whilst I was reading.
If it’s irrelevant, then keep it that way. Of course, there’s a limit. You can’t read a couple of chapters from a 600-page book and then say you read the whole thing—skimming a few chapters of those 600 pages, though, is fine.
The main takeaway of this post should be an understanding that it’s fine to skim, especially if you only read for your own purposes and don’t review books or anything of that sort. Extracting the details that you want and need are fine when you are not required to understand or consider every section of the book.
Still, avoid ruining a perfectly good novel by skimming through it, and do try to appreciate the hard work put in my non-fiction researchers. It is best to use skimming as a last resort when you’re pressed for time or no longer find any joy in reading a particular book.
Leave a Reply