The Five Pages Rule

tyunglebower ♦ October 9, 2024 ♦ Leave a comment

I’ve mentioned before I rarely read books of more than 400 pages. I realize that to some I am missing out on many potential great stories. But as I am, and have always been a slower reader than average, (probably related to Autism…everything else is!), I have to be choosey about length if I don’t want to be reading the same book for two or three months.

Every few years I’ll attempt an epic-length read if the premise appeals to me. Most of the time it’s worth the effort somewhat tiring effort. Sometimes it isn’t. (I couldn’t get into The Priory of the Orange Tree, my most recent attempt at a so called “brick.”)

In truth, it isn’t so much about the number of pages. It is about the speed of most pages in said book. Something I call The Five Pages Rule.

Not a revolutionary idea. Quite simply, it’s a matter of how quickly I can read through five pages, about three-quarters of the time.

One reason I shy away from epic-length books is that any given five-page sliver is so damn slow.

I get it; this is often done on purpose. The author seeks to establish the proverbial “slow burn,” provide an immersive experience to the reader. Legitimate style choices, those. However, it isn’t a style I have been able to consume a regular basis. The snob in me wishes I could read either faster, or enjoy more the painstaking nature of such reads, but if I have not developed either trait by this point in my life, I am not likely ever to do so.

Nor is it limited to sagas; some of the slowest books I have ever tried to read were less than 200 pages total.

The audiobook I’m listening to, (due to an error on my part) is longer than I thought it was when I checked it out–might approach 500 written pages, rough guess. But I have not as of yet set it aside, because most “five pages” move quickly as I listen.

No doubt the narrator plays a large role in this. Not to mention, I can get through any audio book faster than any written book–most people can. More is forgiven when listening to a book than when reading it, I can’t deny that.

Yet there is only so much even the best readers can do for a book that is “written slow.” If the pages of this longer-than-my-usual read were slowly paced on paper, it would have bled into the narration. It has happened with plenty of my other audio DNFs over the years.

I don’t suggest every page of every book must be lightening fast. Paces are supposed to vary. It’s not so much speed but smoothness of read.

And of course even good books hit lulls sometimes. My oft-mentioned habit of given any book 50 pages to catch my attention still stands, usually. But within that 50, if there are more 5-page slogs than 5-page sailings? Probably headed toward DNF island.

Audio or not, if more books in the 400+ page range concerned themselves with how fast a reader gets through five pages at a time, instead of focusing only on the long game, I’d consume far more such books, more often than I do now.

As an author myself, I usually strive for faster pages the average in my fiction. One cannot fully judge the success of one’s own work in this regard, but I have it on my mind every time I write, despite all my novels being under 400 written pages thus far.

My current work in progress, which I began a mere few weeks ago will almost certainly end up with more written pages than anything else I have written. I went into it knowing it may be near-epic length by the time it is finished. That’s why I’m all the more cognizant of just how fast most of the five-page-slivers will read.

Why five pages? No hard and fast reason. I think that any book I am likely to enjoy on the whole will string together five good pages more often than not. But for some it could be 10 pages or 30 for all I know. It depends on how much and how fast one reads. The point is, when you have to read slow, and in shorter sessions such as myself, having most of your smaller pieces packed full of memorable writing that is a joy to get through, you make up for the slower parts.

If I find an author of longer fiction that does this, I may just read more of those popular doorstoppers.