Why Do We Read Fiction?

The concept of fiction is quite strange: other people write detailed accounts of their daydreams, and thousands to millions of strangers are able to experience the same fantasy in their own minds. The custom of reading has been a part of our society for so long that we don’t question the strange phenomenon. In fact, we embrace it. InRicky Gervais’ 2009 comedy “the invention of lying,” he illustrates how ludicrous our seemingly normal custom is. We are, essentially, lying to others for entertainment. However, reading fiction has never been about what is- it’s about what could be. 

When we dream, our minds create impossible ideas. Fiction is not so different, and you could consider novel writing a type of lucid, aware daydreaming.

We are able to be transported to distant kingdoms, faraway planets and realities completely unlike ours. Fiction allows to learn intimate details about unfamiliar professions and other walks of life. Even if you are eighty years old and stuck in a nursing home, you can travel to places no longer accessible to you, and experience adventures outside your own limits. 

Or perhaps reading fiction goes beyond freeing the imagination. Fiction enables strangers to have a shared experience. As a species, stories have always tied us together, even before we started writing them down. For example, there are a remarkable number of ancient cultures with a flood narrative in their tradition stories, even if these peoples never interacted or met. This peculiar “coincidence” is called collective unconscious. 

Today, the Internet and other rapidly progressing technologies have made it possible for novels to be a part of different cultures all around the world. Take Harry Potter as an example. The series has been published in over 60 languages around the world. By reading fiction, we are connecting millions of people with these shared fictional experiences. In truth, we read fiction because to be an active member of humanity. 
Looking for a great fiction read? My debut novel, Windows, is now available on Kindle Scout.