If you have ever re-read the same paragraph three times and wondered why everyone else finishes books faster, start here: reading slowly is usually not a sign that something is wrong with you. It usually comes down to a few ordinary habits, the difficulty of what you are reading, or a benchmark that was wrong to begin with.
The short answer: Most adults read nonfiction at around 238 words per minute and fiction at around 260 words per minute, according to a 2019 meta-analysis by researcher Marc Brysbaert that pooled 190 studies. At 200 words per minute you are a little below average — not dramatically slow. The usual reasons are subvocalization (saying every word in your head), re-reading lines without noticing, reading word by word instead of in phrases, tackling unfamiliar material, and being tired or distracted. Most of these can be improved.
First, check the benchmark
The number most people carry in their heads is 300 words per minute. Brysbaert’s research found that figure does not hold up: the average adult reads nonfiction at about 238 words per minute and fiction at about 260, and reads aloud at around 183. Most adults reading nonfiction fall roughly between 175 and 300 words per minute. A reader at 200 words per minute who believes the average is 300 will feel slow every day, even though they are well inside the normal range. Find out your actual speed first — our reading speed guide explains how to time yourself.
Here is what the difference looks like for a typical 300-page novel of about 75,000 words (roughly 250 words per page):
- At 260 words per minute (average fiction pace): about 4 hours 50 minutes
- At 200 words per minute: about 6 hours 15 minutes
- At 150 words per minute: about 8 hours 20 minutes
That gap is about an hour and a half over a whole novel — not the gulf it feels like when you are watching someone else turn pages. For your own book, our book reading time calculator works out the numbers from the page count.
1. Subvocalization: saying every word in your head
Subvocalization means silently pronouncing each word as you read, as if you were reading aloud inside your head. Almost everyone does it. The problem is that it caps your reading speed at roughly your speaking speed. Most people speak at around 130 to 140 words per minute in a presentation — and read aloud at about 183 — so a strong subvocalization habit keeps you well below what your eyes and brain could otherwise manage. You do not need to eliminate your inner voice; trying to suppress it usually hurts comprehension. Instead, loosen its grip on easy material: when reading a light novel or a familiar article, let your eyes move a little faster than your inner voice can comfortably follow.
2. Regression: re-reading without noticing
Regression is your eyes drifting back over words and lines you have already read. Most readers do it far more often than they realize, and it rarely adds understanding — it just breaks your flow and adds minutes. The simplest fix is also the most old-fashioned: guide your eyes with a finger, a pen, or a card held under the line you are reading. A steady forward movement makes it physically harder to drift back.
3. Reading word by word
Beginning readers fixate on one word at a time. Skilled readers take in short phrases — two or three words per glance — because meaning lives in phrases, not in single words. Try it on an easy passage: deliberately move your eyes in slightly longer jumps, taking in a small group of words at each stop. Give it a few pages before judging it.
4. The material is genuinely hard
This is the reason people forget most often, and it is not a flaw at all. A dense academic paper, a legal document, or a technical manual will slow down any reader, including a fast one. Unfamiliar vocabulary is the biggest factor: every word you have to pause and work out costs time, and a page full of them costs a lot of time. A 10,000-word essay — a long feature article or a short story — takes about 40 minutes at 250 words per minute, but closer to 50 minutes at 200, and over an hour at 150. If the essay is in an unfamiliar field, add more. Our words-to-minutes converter gives you the baseline time for any word count; adjust from there based on difficulty.
5. You do not read very often
Reading speed is a skill, and like any skill it fades without practice. Someone who reads for an hour a day will almost always read faster than someone who reads for ten minutes a week. That is genuinely good news: speed is trainable, and regular reading is the training. Try twenty to thirty minutes a day for a few weeks, on material you enjoy rather than material that feels like homework. Speed gains come from volume, and volume comes from reading things you actually want to finish.
6. Tiredness, stress, and distraction
Your reading speed depends on the state of your brain, not just your technique. When you are tired, stressed, or reading in a noisy room, your working memory has less room to hold the thread of a sentence, so you re-read more and understand less. Read when you are freshest, put the phone in another room, and notice whether your “slow reading” problem is really a “reading while exhausted” problem. For many people, it is.
7. Reading in a second language
Reading in a language that is not your first is slower for nearly everyone. You are doing extra work on vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure all at once. The gap narrows with practice and familiarity in a particular subject — and it says nothing about your intelligence.
When slow reading is a good thing
Not all slow reading is a problem to solve. When you are studying, reading poetry, or working through a difficult argument, slowing down is the right choice. Speed is a tool, not a virtue. The readers who get the most out of books adjust their pace to the material: fast through a light novel, slow through a chapter they need to understand.
When to get extra help
If reading has always been a struggle — if you read slowly even with simple, familiar material, lose your place constantly, or find reading exhausting despite regular practice — talk to a professional, such as a doctor, an eye specialist, or a reading specialist. Conditions such as dyslexia and ADHD can affect reading speed, and an eye test can rule out vision problems.
The bottom line
Most slow reading comes from fixable habits, hard material, or a wrong benchmark — not from low ability. Measure your real speed, compare it with the research averages of 238 words per minute for nonfiction and 260 for fiction, and pick one habit to work on. A finger under the line, a daily reading habit, and a realistic expectation about difficult material will do more for most readers than any speed-reading course.
FAQ
Is 200 words per minute slow?
Not really. Research puts the average adult at about 238 words per minute for nonfiction and 260 for fiction, with most adults falling roughly between 175 and 300 words per minute for nonfiction. At 200 words per minute you are a little below average, but well within the normal range.
Can I actually learn to read faster?
Yes, for most people. Regular reading practice, reducing subvocalization on easy material, and reading in phrases rather than word by word all help. Gains are usually gradual — think weeks of regular reading, not an overnight transformation. Be wary of any course promising dramatic results: very high speeds usually come at the cost of comprehension.