Most people are aware that reading is a Good Thing: for knowledge-building, for intelligence, for empathy, for wellbeing even (see my post ‘Want to feel better about yourself? Read more books…’). But have you ever considered what you read in terms of how it benefits you? Have you ever thought about how much ‘light reading’ you do as opposed to ‘deep reading’, and the consequences?

Recently, the International Journal of Business Administration published a study entitled ‘Syntactic Complexity of Reading Content Directly Impacts Complexity of Mature Students’ Writing’. The researchers behind the study found that what college students read affected their level of writing: those who engaged with ‘deeper reading’ (literary fiction, non-fiction and academic journals) wrote with more sophisticated than their classmates whose reading material was ‘lighter’ (commercial fiction or web-based content like Tumblr).

While light reading is a simple matter or decoding words for their meaning, deep reading is defined as ‘slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity’; ‘the language is rich in detail, allusion, and metaphor, and taps into the same brain regions that would activate if the reader were experiencing the event’ (source: Psychology Today).

In a nutshell, deep reading is better for you: it makes you think, makes you feel and teaches you a lot, both about the world and how to write. It can inspire you, move you, change you – and it stays with you for far longer than light reading.

Education systems are geared towards students reading at a deep level: no doubt you remember reading classic works of literature in your teens. But in adulthood, when we are free to choose our own reading matter, the easier option of light reading can be attractive. Perhaps you pick a novel you can tear through in a couple of hours, with short, simple sentences, little detail and no sophistication in the style. But afterwards, how satisfied do you feel?

Of course, I read light books too, because sometimes I just don’t want to think too hard. But I do plenty of deep reading as well. I am lost without classic literature: Stendhal and Hugo and Flaubert and Brontë are never far from reach. They inspire my own writing, in which I always endeavor to write well – which, for me, means creating books that offer readers the chance to read deeply and be moved emotionally.

If you’d like to try some deep reading, but find it difficult to fit that into your busy life, poetry is a fantastic option. A poem a day keeps the head-doctor away! Here’s a link to a collection of beautiful French love poems that will give you all the benefits of deep reading, and a wonderful rush of feeling: http://lithub.com/the-seven-stages-of-love-according-to-french-poetry/.