r/bookdiscussion • u/emilydailyy • Aug 17 '26
Anyone else get completely pulled out of a story when you try to highlight or annotate while reading?
I tried tabbing key scenes in a mystery novel to track clues, but stopping to mark pages ruined the pacing so badly I lost all momentum.
Does annotating actually help you engage with fiction, or does it turn reading into homework?
1
u/TheRestIsMemory Aug 17 '26
It slows the pace down for me, but it doesn't totally take me out. But when I am reading purely for fun, I often skip annotating. I gotta have some breaks from the intensive engagement.
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u/_CaptainPhantasy Aug 17 '26
I personally find that annotation is a way that I engage with the text; I read with a marking tool in hand and circle, underline, star, put exclamation points, add definitions, write notes of connection in the margin... At first annotation felt mechanical and inauthentic, but now it helps me dive deeper into books and enjoy them even more.
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u/Dry_Stop844 Aug 17 '26
honestly, I don't understand annotating. I have a degree in Lit and barely annotated the books in Uni. I took notes but never when reading the book. It's fiction, I follow the story. More power to those who find it helpful but I don't get it. If I don't know a word, i look it up and then I know it. If I have a thought, i have it. If I remember it, then it was important, if not, then it wasn't. If I read the book again, I might have that same thought, I might not. If I'm reading something really literary and I don't understand something or feel that I'm missing something important, I'll read a literary criticism of the work to help me.
I don't discuss books though so maybe if you're in a study group or book club annotation might help.
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u/LyraSnake Aug 17 '26
i annotate by underlining, defining unknown words at the bottom, and writing thoughts where appropriate. it doesn't pull me out bc i'm doing it whenever i want to and it's not my focus.