Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Down Side of Being a Speech Coach

So I've spent a lot of time the last week editing speeches with my students. It's fun, I really enjoy it. Finding the perfect line to get the audience's attention, and the perfect place to end it- leaving them wanting more.

Many of the kids bring in books they've found on their own, great books. This sounds like a good thing, and it is, really, but the downside is that I don't get to read them in the normal fashion. I have to skim through and find the best parts, often times reading the end first.

This is the only time I would do this. I am not a 'read the last page first' kind of person normally. I have even been known to cover the bottom half of a page with my hand so that I don't peak ahead. Okay, that may be a bit odd, but I want to read it in the order the writer intended it.

So, how about you? Do you like to skip ahead, or do you prefer to be surprised as you go?

28 comments:

  1. I usually read straight through. Only if I've grown really bored of the book will I skip ahead just to see how it ends.

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    1. My best friend does that with our book club books all the time. I give her a hard time for it. :)

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  2. I don't usually skip ahead, but sometimes I will if it is super suspenseful. Sometimes the suspense it's so strong it's distracting from the story! :)

    That's pretty rare though...

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    1. I'd like to know what books have made you do that! :)

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  3. I only skip ahead if I'm worried about something really bad/sad happening...like a dog dying. :)

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    1. It's funny, isn't it, how people handle people dying in books and movies better than dogs?

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  4. My mother used to read the endings all the time, but I could never do it! She also used to unwrap Christmas gifts ahead of time--she was really good at rewrapping! One year, we opened a box of homemade fudge from my aunt, and we all got a good laugh because there was a piece missing!
    I'm a little afraid that if I read the ending of a book first that I'll feel like there's a piece missing!

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    1. That is too funny! I don't open presents early, but I have been known to give presents early. :)

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  5. I try my best not to skip ahead. I'm an absorber, perhaps too much of one, and it slows my reading sometimes. I'm getting faster though.

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  6. I don't skip and that's one of the benefits I've found to e-reading. You *can* skip ahead if you really want to but it's a bit of a pain so it keeps me focused on where I'm at in the book without that temptation.

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    1. That's a good point, I'd never thought about it before. :)

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  7. LOL! My post today was on a similar topic. I'm still not sure what I like. I guess for me it all depends on how the suspense is handled.

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  8. Normally, I like to be surprised, but there is an exception: If I'm scared or held in too much suspense (which is a kind of scary), I can't stand to go on without knowing the ending. If it's a choice of putting the book down and not finishing or skipping ahead, I will skip ahead. When I've settled down, I can go back and read through properly. Sad, I know, but true.

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    1. That makes sense. I do that with movies some times. As in "does the kid die? Seriously, I need to know or I won't be able to pay attention to anything else happening because I'm worrying about it! Tell me!" My husband hates this about me. :-P

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  9. I never skip ahead. Totally kills a story for me! Like the question.

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  10. I totally like to be surprised. However, if the two main characters are gonna kiss, but it's taking them FOREVER sometimes I lose patience and go through to find that first... Yipee!!! moment. :)

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  11. I always read the end, often in the bookshop before I buy the book! I have to be prepared with the right emotions. I also have to know the story line of a film before I watch it - I can't just be told, 'this is good, watch it'.

    BTW I've left an award for you on my blog.

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    1. You always read the end?! I can't imagine that. Doesn't it take the suspense away if you already know what happens?
      You do? Gee thanks! I'll go check it out!

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  12. I will flip through the pages if I'm curious what will happen. That's how I know the book has my attention too.

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    1. Yeah, I can't do that. It surprises me how many people do. Although I guess it's kind of like watching a movie trailor, you know a bunch of the key scenes before seeing it.

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  13. I know this makes me an oddball, but I love spoilers! I guess it's the part of me that hates surprises. I am a notorious peek-ahead'er.

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    1. That's funny, I never would have thought about it that way. :)

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  14. Not only will I not read ahead, I prefer to allow myself to "forget" the jacket flap copy so I can go in pretty well cold. I "forget" by taking home library books or acquiring books and then letting them sit long enough that I don't remember much about them. Fortunately, with a lot of books at home, it's pretty easy to lose track of which jacket copy led me to which book.

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    1. Wow, that's an interesting idea! Maybe I'll have to try that.

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  15. Oh, I couldn't skip ahead. Actually, I've never skipped ahead. Maybe I'm too much of a goody-goody! a.

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