It occured to me that I've mentioned several times that I skim or skip things in books, and then stand up for my right to do so. Lots of people skim or skip stuff that they find boring. I'm beginning to think we have a skimming epidemic.
So it seems we must find a cure. Not for ourselves. We have the right to skim things that bore us. But we must cure the books of skimmful writing. We can't really go through existing books and fix it all with red pen. Well, we can, but it would only change that one copy. But we're young people, right? We are the future. In this case, the future of the reading industry. So really, what we have to do is eliminate the need for skimming in our future published works, and in doing so saving the world!!!
Everyone's different. Everyone likes and dislikes different things. The chances of a book being written that no one ever skims even a tinsy sentence is pretty remote. But we can deffinately improve things.
What I think we ought to do, is create a list. A big long list of what people skim. Then we can all come and look at it and think "hmmm ... I'd better make this bit really new and interesting because otherwise lots of people are going to skim it" or "uh ... on second thoughts I think I'll leave out that page of weather description".
It would be good if you put a little bit about what sort of books you like to read, genres and so forth, for convinience. Also, it would be helpful to give a little detail on why you skim bits (probably it will always be bordom, but you could say why you find it boring). And you can always say what interests you so much you never skip it, or very rarely do anyway. That would also be handy.
We need lots of people to post. So if you're reading this and there's someone who posted exactly what you would say, don't just think "ah, well, they've already said that, so there's no point in me posting" because if you've got something that backs up something else, it makes that thing more important for people to consider.
Ok, I think I've spent enough time rambling on. I could probably have said it in less words. Fell free to be a smart alec and point out bits of this post you skimmed. It'll help me to write better.
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Well, I mostly read fantasy. I like comedy, so I'm partial to anything that'll give me a laugh, but fantasy is the main thing.
I tend to skim:
* Huge blocks of description. Really, it dosen't interest me that much. If reading the description is too much effort I'm quite happy to skip it and decide for myself whether his hair should be blonde or dark brown or bright green.
* Huge paragraphs. I usually miss about half of them. Like, I'll start reading it but then get bored with where it's going so I'll take a look at the next paragraph, and if it looks like I can understand it without reading the rest of the paragraph I'm on, I'll just skip.
* Characters thinking about their problems. I'm not stupid. I don't need the problem repeated to me fifty times. I usually get it the first time, quite often even before the character thinks "I have a problem and I wish I knew how to solve it". They don't need to think that all the time. Sometimes, sure. Particularly if you want to get the reader a character's perspective on things, and it's not likely, for whatever reason, that they would have done this. But, honestly, if you did the character properly in the first place we'd surely be able to pick up on it.
* Battle scenes or fight scenes. This one I think I must be slightly odd for skipping. But ... I don't know. It's never really interesting. I mean yeah, I get it, the guy with the sword killed fifty million orcs and got a small cut on his elbow. Big whoop. Do I really need a blow by blow account of how each and every one of said orcs met their end? Is it important to the plot to go on for pages about it? Probably not.
* Battle scenes with huge paragraphs. It's supposed to be exciting! What's with the huge paragraphs? Surely if you want to make thinks seem exciting and fast and rushed you shorten things and pepper it with fragments and urgent, short paragraphs. What's with the great, sweeping, magestic descriptions that always seem to fight there way in? They send me to sleep!
* Dumpings. If you can't write it in an entertaining fashion, why should I want to read it? So I understand the rest of the story? Let me tell you, the story is not that important to me. There are thousands of books. If I pick up one that starts with a history of elves, men and dwarves, I will drop it and find another. Dumpings cause the skipping of the rest of the book.
I don't skim:
* Dialogue. Unless it's a huge speech that goes on for pages about nothing, anyway. Dialogue interests me. I just read a book made up entirely of letters between different characters, and I don't think I skipped a word.
* When I really really really really really really want to know the ending. If I only really want to know the ending, I simetimes just look at the ending, then read up to it. If I'm enjoying the book, but am not wondering about how it will end, I'll just read it through, like normal, skipping the boring bits. But if I really really really really really really want to know, then I will read every word in the right order.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you read all of that without skimming and still decide to post, you deserve a medal.
but when I got to the end I did go back and read it... 
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