Interesting-- the stuff you skip is the stuff that pulls me into a story and makes me wriggle with pleasure. Even when I was a kid. I did skip poetry when I was a kid, though, and I might do it now. If I find myself skipping anything in a book these days, it's a sign I'm out of sympathy with the writer and should probably stop reading entirely.
I would submit that the process of scanning a web page for information is qualitatively different from the process of reading. The reader/user/viewer's reason for approaching the material is different. The user is hostile when approaching a web page, particularly an unfamiliar one: give me what I need now, and don't waste my time trying to sell me anything or shove advertising down my throat. With a book, the relationship is more mutual. The reader is on the book's side, and wants it to work, and generally has much more time to invest. The hook still needs to happen early, in movies and in books, but the timing is different.
Oh, and you might also enjoy Worse than Failure, formerly known as the Daily WTF.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-08 04:05 pm (UTC)I would submit that the process of scanning a web page for information is qualitatively different from the process of reading. The reader/user/viewer's reason for approaching the material is different. The user is hostile when approaching a web page, particularly an unfamiliar one: give me what I need now, and don't waste my time trying to sell me anything or shove advertising down my throat. With a book, the relationship is more mutual. The reader is on the book's side, and wants it to work, and generally has much more time to invest. The hook still needs to happen early, in movies and in books, but the timing is different.
Oh, and you might also enjoy Worse than Failure, formerly known as the Daily WTF.