Monday, March 10, 2008

Reading Burnout

I never thought in my whole life that I would say this, but I am sick of reading.  My eyeballs are tired.  My neck hurts from the strain.  Not only that, but I am so bored with the words I read.  In class we talk about voice as one of the six traits, meaning that what you write should "surprise and delight" the reader.  Here's the catch: nothing surprises me or delights me.  The essays I read for my Masters program are blah.  The writing my students do for the most part merely demonstrates their procrastination.  Beyond that, I do not know what to do.  I do not feel like reading a novel.  I do not feel like reading the paper.  I feel like becoming a veggie and blowing off reading altogether.  It makes me feel guilty, to be an English teacher who no longer wants to read.  What is wrong with me?  I'd like to know, dear reader, have you ever experienced reading burnout?

1 comment:

Jamie said...

NEVER! But if you want a good, light read that won't make you feel like you're losing brain cells, check out anything by Terry Pratchett. Lighthearted fantasy novels that, at a second glance, are biting satire about just about everything in the modern world. I expect to hear from you that you have gone to the local library and checked one out. "Hogfather" is a personal favorite!