Anyone have memory techniques for reading a Novel? To remember the story and characters well? Reading comprehension
2 Likes
What I use for that kind of reading is speed reading, you should try to read n groups of words and try to visualize the scene, I do it with that kind of books.
1 Like
After reading a chapter stop and summarise briefly aloud what you just read: who are the characters, what are they like, what did they do, why did they do it, what did it make you feel, why, etc.
When you finished the book, talk about it to a friend. Having to summarise what you just read to somebody else reveals how much you paid attention. With time, you’ll be able to tell about the books you read more easily and clearly.
2 Likes
I’ve done this in a few ways, one of which has been very effective.
For the names of characters, a standard Memory Palace works, or even just an association in the void of the mind. But why skimp on the opportunity to develop a quick MP for the characters in the story?
In terms of the plot, back when I was a film studies professor, I memorized the basic heroes journey and the more elaborate version various story gurus use, like John Truby.
I also memorized a bunch of Propp’s functions which you can find in Morphology of the Folktale. Although I didn’t memorize any of the 36 Dramatic Situations, it’s worth being familiar with them.
This helps because as you read, you can detect the shape of the plot. It’s almost like the major plot structures serve as a kind of Memory Palace that you use to encode by way comparison rather than placement.
It also helps to understand the main types of conflict, which some people have boiled down to oppositions like: civilization vs wilderness, innocence vs. experience, body vs. soul, reasons vs. passion, etc.
When you analyze stories through these frameworks, they become much easier to remember. In fact, when I was a film studies professor I used to teach a course called Genre Frameworks. A few clips from a recorded version is kicking around YouTube somewhere.
Hope this helps!
5 Likes
Yeah the only one I have at the moment is using the method of loci for creating the setting of the story such as the map of my town and using it as the foundation for creating a replica of the setting in the book. But yeah using memory technique for memorising the characters names is good advice
1 Like
You can make a map of names and then mnemonics
2 Likes