When reading a novel, I take breaks in between every few passages or chapters. Depending on my interest in the novel, a book may take me a day or a week to finish. When reading a short story, I always read from start to finish, reaching the end in one sitting. In addition, I tend to annotate and underline more in novels than in short stories. In fact, unless I'm using the text for a deeper analysis, I typically read short stories without making many notes. When I mark my novels, I make notes of significant events, key characteristics of each character, and even meaningful quotes.
What I pay attention to also shifts when the type of reading I read changes. I focus primarily on the theme--the author's underlying message--when reading a short story. To be frank, I don't invest myself into the text as much as I should. However, when I read a novel, I shift my attention to the growth of the characters, as well as the purpose of each passage. My connection to the characters is much stronger, as I make correlations from the novel to my life. I feel more enraged when someone is disrespected, more sorrow when a death occurs, more happiness when a pure soul touches the lives of others; in my opinion, novels essentially stimulate more emotion in its readers than short stories. Short stories are brief and concise, hence their name. Novels, on the other hand, are more detailed and winding, requiring more of an investment (in both time and attention) for further investigation. Reading a novel requires a forward-glancing perspective: the reader must constantly be looking back while looking forward, tying loose ends together to predict the final outcome.
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