I used to be a visualizer. At around the age of 8-12 I could imagine a movie in my mind as I read. Once I read an entire 500 page book, one which was relatively high level for and 8 year old, in a single day. Unfortunantly, I don’t to do that anymore despite being an older, more experienced reader. I slowly push the pages and subvocalize. it takes me a few weeks to read 500 pages. I don’t know what changed my mindset. It’s a lot less satisfying to read this way. Does anyone have tips about how to active a mental movie while reading?
I experienced a similar frustration. Somewhere around middle school I noticed a significant drop in my reading speed as well as doubling back to reread sentences to make sure I understood them.
I gradually came to the realization that younger me was a faster reader because I didn’t get bogged down on minor details. I was surprised when I found out that I had mentally misread a character’s name from a children’s book series I used to read voraciously. My slower reading came with better recall and attention to specifics, but a decline in my enjoyment of reading.
So I started adopting a “movie theater” approach. If you mishear or feel confused about a detail in a movie theater, it’s not like you can just get up and rewind. You kind of have to roll with it. Now I’m convinced that is exactly what I was doing as a kid because I’m reading so much faster and enjoying it just as much as I used to.