Why You Should Read Fiction

Are you a reader? 

Maybe you've asked yourself that question before. Some people naturally take to words, and fall in love with stories and characters. It becomes a lifelong love for them, one that doesn't go away. 

Some people don't. Reading doesn't interest them, and it's difficult—they do it when they're required to, for schoolwork, but beyond that? No books. 

Obviously, the first kind of person will be more likely to agree with this article. 

But, even for people who don't like it, reading fiction is a valuable exercise that can benefit our minds, hearts, and even souls. 

And it's valuable for everybody.

 

Empathy

When you read, you're experiencing a story through someone else's eyes. 

When was the last time you read a book about yourself? That had you as the main character? 

Unless you're reading a Choose Your Own Adventure novel, or perhaps your journal, I'd bet that the answer is never. 

Protagonists of the books we read are different than us. Part of enjoying the story is learning to understand them; to think their thoughts, and to experience through the world through their senses. 

In fact, it's quite difficult to read a book that doesn't do this well. Because we simply don't care what happens, and we lose rapidly lose interest.

This is a valuable skill. To understand another human being is something that few are naturally gifted with—perhaps there's the one-off social guru you know who takes to people like a fish to water, but that just isn't most people. 

For the rest of us mortals who do have to work to understand people, reading novels is one of the best tools at our disposal. 

Reading novels that require you to relate with a main character will cultivate empathy. When you read, you put yourself in someone else's shoes—isn't that something that the world needs more of? You'll be able to see people as people, and be able to grow in your love for them. 

A great story is a mirror held up against the human soul. 

 

Wisdom

There are a variety of ways to learn things in this world—not all of them pleasant. 

Most of the things we learn as children, we learn by living life. You touch a hot stove, it burns your hand. Congrats! You've learned not to touch things that glow orange. 

This is a great way to learn, because the lessons stay with you for as long as you remember the consequences. 

This is also not a great way to learn, because many consequences can be absolutely devastating. 

What if you were never told not to drive your car too fast? And so you went 15 over the speed limit while driving downtown, and hit a pedestrian? 

Or what if you never knew what healthy grieving looked like, and fell into addiction and devastation after a loss? 

Proverbs tells us that wisdom is found in those who take advice (Proverbs 13:10) but advice only gets us so far. Yes, we're told not to speed—and that's helpful advice, if we heed it. 

But for deeper, more emotional struggles, we're unlikely to actually listen to advice we're given. We don't appreciate being told things that sound "preachy" or insensitive—and sadly, a lot of advice comes across this way. 

Stories are a way to get past this. Reading fiction shows you other people making mistakes, other people's failures. And the consequences.

And, it shows you how to avoid making those mistakes yourself.

Read! Wisdom is found in those who take advice, and the advice you get from stories is sweet. 

As Mary Poppins once said, "Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down." 

 

Hope

We are not shown the full stories of our lives. 

In life, we can only see the present. It's impossible to see what's going to happen, and though we're able to remember scenes from the past, our memories will fade. 

The present feels much more immediate, more important. And because of this, it's tempting to think that the way things are right now is the way things always will be. 

Can you see how hopeless this way of thinking can become? 

If the present is all there is, then when you're going through a difficult season of life, you can't see past that. All you can see is the pain and the difficulty. You don't understand that things will get better, and that they haven't always been this hard. 

Thinking that way can lead you to despair and depression. You'll give up. Because why try, if it won't make any difference? 

But life is not static. Plots advance, and characters change—and life changes just the same way. 

Reading stories shows us that there's hope. Because if the characters did it, then you can too. Their stories got better. Won't yours?

Books show us the beauty that our emotions can hide. 

They highlight the hope that comes with time, effort, and love. And reading them will encourage you. 

 

I hope that books are valuable to you, whether you think of yourself as a "reader" or not. The truth is that we all struggle, and books show us we're not alone. 

Don't we need to be reminded of that once in a while?