Changing My Ways

Until recently, D, N, and F were 3 letters that could not be applied to me and my reading. They stand for Did Not Finish, and I always finish a book. Or at least, I used to.

Authors put so much time and effort into writing a book. By doing so, they’re in effect putting a piece of their soul out there for everyone to judge. Now that I’ve been publishing for a few years, I know more than ever just how much time and effort goes into a good story, as well as how hard it is to put yourself out there like that.

But not every book is going to cut it for every reader. It’s just a fact.

Oftentimes, I made excuses out of empathy. I mean, I’m not perfect. Far from it. I tend to write in regional vernacular that might not be grammatically correct but fits the story and the characters. And, despite dozens of passes, multiple editors, proofers and ARC readers, some oopses still manage to make it through. So I get it. I really do.

But here’s the thing. The last few months have been rough. Lots of things have come up that require my attention, and as a result, my me-time has been slashed to a mere fraction of what it was.

Translation: I am no longer willing to waste my über-valuable reading time with excuses and maybes. If I can only squeeze in one book this week, it’s going to be a book that I enjoy reading.

There could be plenty of reasons why a book isn’t doing it for me. Maybe it’s poorly written. Maybe it’s filled with mistakes. Maybe I’m just not in the proper mood or frame of mind for it at that particular moment.

It doesn’t matter. If I’m not liking it, I’m not going to keep reading it.

I’m not going to badmouth anyone. I’m not going to write a bad review. What I am going to do is quietly put the book down and move on to something that’s going make the most of my limited me time.

Do I feel guilty about it? Yeah, a little. But life (and reading time) is too short to do anything else. And honestly, I feel empowered just saying that. Go me 🙂

How about you? If you’re not digging a book, do you DNF or power thru?