So, you want to get into reading. Maybe you’re feeling technological burnout and are tired of all the short-form content in media right now. You want to challenge yourself and exercise that brain of yours, or maybe you simply want something to do to pass the time. If that sounds like you, I think it’s time to put the self-help books down and to read a fictional story.
Fiction as a written genre is often seen as unserious. What could you possibly get out of reading a make-believe story written by a random person? Sure, it can be fun, but are you actually learning anything? Yes, you are. When fiction is written and read with intentionality, it can offer a reader a world of knowledge.
Reading non-fiction like self-help books or autobiographies can have a lot to offer. They can tell you about the world or tell you how to better your life. But that’s all they do – tell.
Fiction is all about showing, and that’s where the real mental work occurs. A work of fiction may tell you what has happened plotwise, but it is up to you, the reader, to interpret it.
Suzanne Collins, author of the Hunger Games Series, could have just told her readers that she thinks the society we live in is propped up by slave-wage labor and mistreatment of the poor. But that’s boring. Instead she transferred all her thoughts into a digestible narrative which can then be interpreted in many different ways.
Quality fiction is written by authors who put forth intentionality throughout their work. Every chapter, paragraph, sentence and word is crafted and chosen so that an author can transfer their thoughts, experiences, and unique perspectives unto you. Fiction is a series of deliberate decisions that an author spent countless hours making. Why wouldn’t you read it?
Fiction is a window into the consciousness of another. When we collectively look at all the decisions an author makes, and we read the story they decided to tell, we are seeing the world from a different perspective than our own. What an author chooses to include in their story can alert us to experiences that we might have never considered possibly being someone else’s reality.
Reading fiction is the ultimate act of human connection and understanding. Taking words at face value, like we do when reading nonfiction, is an act of understanding but it is simple and does not take much cognitive work—but putting in the work to truly comprehend another’s mind through their stories? That’s real and complex understanding.
Above all, reading fiction is fun. Nonfiction can really get your neurotransmitters working overtime, but it often sucks the enjoyment out of reading. Just because fiction is fun to read doesn’t mean you aren’t working your brain. Don’t let the prospect of fun deter you from all the things fiction has to offer.
