How to DNF a fiction book
“If you hate the book after 30 pages, do not finish (DNF) it!”
That’s a controversial title just right there. Anyone I know would raise their eyebrows with eyes wide open staring at me. I have been preaching that one should just drop a book that bore or annoy them to death.
But I learned my way through this. I was taking a walk through the tiny woods in the park a few days ago and had a thought about this. How about tackling DNF like how I would negotiate and deal with difficult people? What if I am actually listening to someone’s story and decided to leave the conversation while the person was talking? “Bam!” close the book and never look at it again. Imagine doing that in person? That’s insanely rude, I think.
This kind of thought is really intellectually stimulating for me. Just like any good scientist (my imaginary occupation), I want to make a conclusion on whether I should DNF a book after I have enough evidence or data to prove that it’s not worth my time. It’s like an experiment in the lab where you want to prove the hypothesis and your pre-assumptions of things.
My expectation was clear. At the end of this experiment, I would understand the other person's perspective and that would not mean I will have to like the book I am reading (If I like it, good. If I don’t like it, still good). Agree to disagree or whatnot. But I don’t want to just throw it out of the window, just because…
Here’s how I approached a book that I am feeling ‘meh’ and incline to DNF.
Read it for 100 minus your age ( I learned this from Ali Abdaal). Pause the reading and walk away from the book. Process the feelings that trigger your thought. This is a moment of self-coaching; ask yourself “What is this feeling about? Why is it triggering my emotion? In which situation of my life is similar to the plot of the book? Journal it out. You will be able to find out that the book may have accidentally pointed out an emotion or a situation that trigger you. Take the time to reflect, and tell yourself that the character or the scene is not you. Sometimes, it’s just because the storyline is going against your values and beliefs or sometimes you just want something that’s for your enjoyment which the book seems not to provide you, so it triggers you.
Return to the book and treat it like it’s your first time to start exploring the pages. Dissect and label the section of the book (if there is any); this would help you to make a rough idea of the hours that you will need to read through the book. Re-read the blurb of the book again from Goodreads to reset your thoughts about the book. Re-identify the genre of the book to reset your expectation of the type of vibe that you will be getting from the book. Set a new expectation of how you are going to approach the book. e.g. the plot, the storyline, the message, the characters, the world-building etc.
Active listening and showing empathy. Treat the author or the narrative as someone you actually need to interact with in real life. Treat them like they are sitting in front of you ready to tell their part of the story. You would want to be polite and turn on your ‘curiosity hat’ to listen to them, wouldn’t you?
Do research about the chapter you are reading. I do this to fantasy books that have complicated world-building!
Reassess your thought process and mental health throughout the reading period. If it hurts your intellect or mental health at any level, you know you have to tell the author to stop telling you that story. Close the book and move on to the next one.
All in all, if you decide to finish it or if you don’t…you have enough information and reasons that you need to know to decide whether it is a good book for you or otherwise.
In retrospect, I learned that although I don’t like it as much..some books that I managed to finish still left me with deep reflection even if it’s just one thing and triggers my emotion so much because it’s against the value that I lived for! By going through this process, I came to learn that I am teaching myself to learn lessons even from a situation that seems not to be ideal to my liking. Giving the author a benefit of a doubt before throwing it out of the window 😆
Let me know if you have done similar things like me…
