How to get out of a reading slump

A reading slump is when you want to read, but nothing takes. You open a book, read the same page twice, and put it down. You start three more and finish none. It happens to every reader, and it passes. Here is what tends to help.

Why slumps happen

• Life is full. Stress, tiredness or a busy season leave little room for a story.
• A book hangover. After a book you loved, everything else feels flat for a while.
• A book you are forcing. One stuck book can block all the others behind it.
• Too much of the same. The same genre, the same kind of story, for months.
• A goal that weighs. When a number starts to matter more than the books, reading turns into a task.

Ways out

1. Put down the stuck book. Setting it aside for later is not giving up on it. If you are not sure, here is when to DNF a book.
2. Reread a comfort book. A story you already know asks nothing of you, and reminds you why you love reading.
3. Go short. A novella, short stories, poetry or a graphic novel: something you can finish in a sitting or two.
4. Change the format. An audiobook on a walk, an ebook in bed, a paperback on the train.
5. Change the mood. Pick the opposite of what you have been reading: light after dark, a romance after a thriller.
6. Make it small. Ten minutes, or a chapter before sleep. Small and often beats waiting for a free afternoon.
7. Take the pressure off. Lower your yearly goal, or forget it for a month. There are kinder reading challenge ideas than a number.
8. Or rest. Not reading for a while is allowed. Books will wait.

Getting out of a slump with Storyfeel

• Pick by mood. Give the books on your TBR a Mood, then tap Pick for me. It asks I’m in the mood for: and shows the moods on your shelf, with how many books have each; tap one, or Surprise me. With a paid plan, Find moods gives a mood to every book on your TBR that does not have one. More on managing your TBR pile.
• Keep heavy themes away for now. In the Content warnings filter, Hide books with takes away the books with a theme you would rather not read about right now, and Pick for me chooses only from what you can see.
• Reread a favourite. On a Completed book, Read again starts a new read and keeps the earlier one in Calendar, with its own rating. Stats counts re-reads apart.
• Let go of the stuck one. Mark it DNF: it leaves your current reads, and you can always change it back.
• Lower your goal. On My Journey, change the number on the Reading challenge card whenever you like.
• Look back. The On this day card on My Journey shows what you were reading around this date in earlier years, and Recall, in Games, brings back the moments you saved. Sometimes one line from an old favourite is enough to want to read again.

Questions

How long does a reading slump last?

There is no set time: a few days, a few weeks, sometimes longer. It usually lifts on its own, faster when you stop pushing.

Should I make myself finish the book I am stuck on?

No. Pushing through a book you dread is the surest way to make the slump longer.

What if it is not only books?

If nothing feels worth doing for weeks, not just reading, that is worth talking about with someone you trust or a doctor.

Is this on the free plan?

Yes: Mood, Pick for me, the filters, Read again and DNF have no free-plan limits. Find moods is part of the paid plans.

To find your way back to reading, one mood at a time, try Storyfeel free.