Emma Loffhagen’s article about rekindling a love of reading echoed the development of a habit that I’ve been following for some time now (The one change that worked: I was lost in the infinite scroll – until a small ritual renewed my love of reading, 6 October). A few years ago, I found myself procrastinating a little too much each morning rather than getting on with my writing. Scrolling through social media and the news cycle was slowly eating into more of that precious time.
Then I recalled an article about “morning pages”, a daily ritual involving contemplation and free-form writing, and wondered if I could use this to develop better habits. I wrote down two questions: “What did I read this morning?” and “What do I think about what I read this morning?” Not only does this give me more purpose for my scrolling, it also serves as a warm-up before I focus on my word count for the day. Without this structure, I don’t think I’d be so productive.
Rachel Amphlett
Poole, Dorset
• I write down and look up the meaning of unfamiliar words, which makes me tortuously slow at reading. I also like to reread certain phrases or sentences and think about them for a while. I enjoy books that are not mainstream too, although one of my favourites has been Orbital, which deservedly won the 2024 Booker prize.
I recently joined a book club, where I suspect we will be reading one book a month – a challenging task for me as I enjoy slow reading.
Pam Connor
Belconnen, Australia
• I have a similar practice to Emma Loffhagen, but rather than noting down words I don’t know, I create flashcards from nonfiction. Will I ever need to know why medieval Florence banned buildings over a certain height? Probably not, but the flashcards keep small facts in mind for context.
James Mitchell-White
Nottingham
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