Discussion Dealing with reader burnout?

Does anyone have tips for dealing with reader burnout? I've been reading foreign novels for years now but as time goes by I find it getting more and more difficult to care about checking on whether or not a series has a new chapter out. This leads to me ignoring a series for months and when I finally raise the motivation to read again I've already forgotten a fair amount of details. Because of this, I have to decide between rereading a good chunk or just dropping the novel as I simply don't have enough time to bother with it. I genuinely enjoy reading these books but certain plot arcs just leave me dreading the next 10 chapters as I know that nothing is going to be resolved.

I've tried branching out to different genres in addition to switching between CN/KR/JP, taking a break obviously hasn't helped either. Any ideas?

 

Don't make speculations that you hate just because of the current arc

 

You only mentioned translated novels, have you tried original novels or fanfics yet? Or you could try games or TV for a while. I used to switch between TV, games, and reading to kill time every six months or so. Though the last few years I've mostly stuck to reading.

 

Are you only referring to freely available stories on here?

 

read hentai for the plot
some are actually freaking amazing

 

If you put the series on your reading list, you usually can almost immediately see the updates on the front page, right? Just click on them and read on, force yourself to do it!
You can also make a list of what to read in a month or week, if the series is completed even better! Focus on the series in this list first!
If the problem is you dislike the arc, just put the series to "pause" list, you can put multiple series there and when you remember or see the series again you can plan on when you'll read the stockpile of chapters or reread it from the beginning.

 

read those oneshots you have been ignoring.

 

Mostly, I've read a fair amount of MTL as well but I decided that it wasnt worth my brain melting

The problem isn't necessarily that the arc is boring me as much as that I'm starting to see a trend in the novel. If the novel gets predictable I lose interest if it's a never ending cycle of: powerup, faceslap, fight, repeat. After a point I lose faith in the author even if the MTLers say that the story gets amazing in 200 chapters.

Even in some of the more traditionally accepted novels here I'm getting bored. Call it sacrilegious but I dread every food and fondling scene in SCoG and it kills any motivation that I have to keep reading.

 

I use tts while doing chores or going to the gym for some series bc I know they're gonna drag on and dont have to focus 100%. for slow translations, I let things build up and check back every once in a while. I like a lot of genres and rotate through them to keep things fresh. for wuxia I leave notes at major story arcs since only the big bits matter. for things i haven't read in a while I'll either do a full re read or at least listen if it was really good. if it was mediocre I'll back up a little from where I left off at a point I feel familiar and skip ahead as I remember

 

I think it might be a good idea to just take a break from reading for a bit, note which novels you currently like, and come back to them when you feel motivated again. Because if you’re lacking motivation, it means that you’re starting to feel sick of novels like the ones you mentioned.

I find that I enjoy reading by checking NU daily, and reading a few of the updates for different novels that I like, rather than marathoning any particular novel. This keeps my interest up, and lets me read in bite sized portions throughout the day

 

I've experienced something similar-ish. When I started reading LNs, I tried out a lot of different genres, eventually settling with xianxia/ cultivation novels as my favorites (at the time). And I read many and some of the most popular. But then I kind of burned out for the genre. Even now, though I still really like it, I don't currently read many of them, though they are on my (extensive) back burner list. Since then, I've branched out to other genres I also enjoy, especially ones that don't have a minimum chapter count of 2k+. And sometimes I go and reread just the initial part of some xianxias. You know, from "I just lost my fiancee, I'm trash, everyone looks down on me" to "look, I'm strong, first en-mass face-slapping, so now I'm gonna leave for the larger world". Not that the novels aren't good after that, but the first initial rush of reaching some peak of performance among the MCs peers is very nice.

So my advice is to branch out of your go-to genres. And to accept that re-reading something that you are already familiar with is perfectly acceptable, and can be very enjoyable. Also, it helps to have another hobby/activity you enjoy other than reading. I personally also cook and do various fiber crafts. What I'm most focused on at any given time changes, and I just go with the flow. Forcing yourself to do an activity that you know you enjoy but just don't feel like doing at the moment doesn't work for me.

 

Take a moment and do something else, it'll come back in about a month or so. read manga, play games, build a boat. do something else and it'll return some day soon.

 

... This is me when i spend too much time reading works from here. It came to a point that I've decided that as long as the story is entertaining and I like the main characters, no matter the quality of translation or the predictability of the plot, i will continue reading a novel, even use MTL. I don't feel guilty or regretful dropping a novel if it loses my interest because the bar is already so low.
But yeah, reading burnout happens even if the story is interesting. I get over that by bookmarking/saving the page of the story i am reading then taking a break from it with the intention of coming back to it. Then i read another story, it helps that i read original, fanfic, and published works in almost every genre. But if I'm really fed up with reading itself and i feel antsy, i watch my comfort series/anime or try to discover something new to watch. At the back of my mind that intention of coming back to that story i bookmarked keeps gnawing at me until i finally get the excitement back of finding what happens next to that story.
Idk, maybe that's just how my brain works?? but it really relies on the condition that i find the story interesting and entertaining. I eventuality get out of that reading burnout.
Don't feel regretful dropping a novel you honestly don't like or lost in, there are other wonderful works out there, always. Maybe the story itself is wonderful but your current emotional or mental status isn't up for it. Some plots don't mesh with the kind of fic I'm looking to connect with at a particular moment. That happens to me sometimes so i simply bookmark a novel as To Read so when im in the mood to look for something new to read, i come back to that list to see if I'm up for it again.

 

The same happened to me a few years ago. To fight that feeling, I started reading fanfictions and those have been the main thing I spend my time on since then. And when I get bored of ffs I just go back to rereading some of my favourites or reading new novels that came out in the last few months I haven't checked.
If you are already reading ffs, you can try the same with visual novels, games or just getting a new new hobby and forcing yourself to not read any novels for like 2 months or something. You'll quickly get your love for novels back!

 

Try reading shorter and already completed novels, it's a lot easier to read something with 50 chapters than it is to read something with 2000+.

Especially because the chances of anything with 1000+ chapters being garbage is at least over 90% anyways, so it's not like you're missing much by ignoring those stories.

 

Buy a Kindle and read Tchekhov.

Will it help you? Probably not.

 

I binge read a lot, so I get burnt out easily after a month of nonstop reading. Sometimes you really do need to put down the novels and do something else. like many other people said go play a game, watch tv, literally anything else. There’s only so much your brain can take no matter if you flip from wuxia to romance to tragedy to politics to comedy.

 

Do you take breaks while reading? Five minutes every half an hour does wonders. I've found that I'm often beckoned by knowing the next answer, to the point where when I finally stop, it's because I'm exhausted and can't focus anymore even if I try.

Think of it like going to the gym. If you go all out in the gym every day and don't take time to rest, you'll just get lethargic. Sure reading is fun and comes naturally to us bookworms, but that doesn't mean it's not an effort on some level.

 

The world is large my dude. Even if you disregard all the productive things you could be doing, there's still plenty of ways to while away your time. Chances are you'll get into a more popular and socially acceptable hobby than reading shitty webnovels

 

same with the others, I've read novels everyday for years that I got fed up with it. Stopped reading novels for around 5 months(tho I ended up being into fan fictions) played games and did other stuffs... came back and it was so satisfying binge reading 5 months worth of updates