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Weekly Geeks 2010 - 32 : Overly Critical Reader

That's right, the girl who likes to make up weird for reading terms is back! After introducing the world to such things as P.A.B.D. (post amazing book depression) and S.B.S. (shiny book syndrome), I'm here to show how to spot if you're an O.C.R. and even more importantly how to avoid becoming one!

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O.C.R. = Overly Critical Reader

Symptoms:

  • not liking characters in the beginning
    • needing the main character to prove themselves before you'll respect them
  • rolling your eyes while reading
    • needing things to be completely realistic
  • shouting things such as "WTF?!"
    • needing every plot twist and turn to be foreseeable

How do you avoid becoming an OCR?

  • alternate genres between books (or vary storylines)
    • I find I compare books less and don't overly raise my expectations if I read a UF after a great YA rather than jumping right into another YA book.
  • make a note and let it go
    • Instead of figuring out how you're going to word something in your review, note the page and let it go until later.
  • think about what you're reading
    • Are you reading a paranormal? Then I guess you can't be too surprised if things are unrealistic. Are you reading Chic Lit? Then yeah it's full of completely gag worthy unrealistic romance and steamy sex scenes you probably can't recreate.
  • We read because we want the fantasy... STOP comparing it to real life!!
So now that you've seen some of the symptoms, are you an OCR? What makes you one and how to do try to avoid doing it?

fantasy, LIFE, TIME, and more:

Weekly Geeks 2010 - 32 : Overly Critical Reader + weekly geeks