How Important is Fiction to You?

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Hello, all! I've been trying to get into various anime and tv shows, but I keep having intrusive thoughts telling that I'm wasting my time by investing so much of my energy in something that isn't real. Basically, I'm somewhat insecure about how "juvenile" my interests may be. I'm aware that I'm wrong in my opinion, but I'm still having trouble in getting rid of this opinion. Can anyone explain the virtues of fiction and how it's impacted their lives?

Nonfiction has facts. Fiction has Truth.

Reading a history textbook about a specific time period will give me knowledge, but reading fiction from that era will give me a clearer picture of what life was actually like for those living then, not just by observing their actions, but by reading their thoughts, ideals, values, and impressions.

Someone once told me that she tried not to “waste” her time reading fiction. She just wanted to read nonfiction for self improvement purposes.

I felt overwhelmed by sadness for her! Reading literature has given me so much happiness and it’s shaped my character for the better in astonishing ways! It’s shaped my morality, my outlook on things, has given me a rich and fertile imagination, has added to the ways that I feel and experience empathy, and has continually taught me what it means to be human.

There’s nothing like being able to get into a character’s mind and see the world from his or her perspective. That practice contributes to my understanding of people in the real world.

Fiction can shape our entire thought and belief systems and even shake us to the core. We need that sometimes. I’ve been so inspired by some things that I’ve read that I’ve had chills.

I try not to waste too much time on nonfiction.

I can’t say anything that comes anywhere close to describing the true value of literature.

Last edited by TwilightPrincess on 21 Jun 2019, 12:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I get most of my entertainment and a lot of my motivation from fiction, specifically special interests that are fictional.

Hmm, I think Twilightprincess has already covered the gist of what I was going to say.

Personally, fiction was a big part of my childhood, and it's still a good portion of my life now. I enjoy creating illustrations and writing stories. There's something so oddly intriguing about taking in another perspective. I've realised things that I might not have done otherwise.

Fiction provides insight. I am somewhat fascinated by myths. Mainly because they can be so strange. By studying tales of monsters, we can speculate on what people were afraid of. The beliefs, fears and insecurities of a society alongside their misconceptions, biases and so on.

Sometimes there are messages, themes and concepts which I would like to get across. By creating art, I can do so in an entertaining manner. It creates a conversation. There are poems, beautiful designs and other pieces of artwork which leave me in awe. Or even inspire me. I was reading a comic recently, and I kept going back to view the previous pages. The whole comic was so wonderfully illustrated.

My interest in fiction began as a way to escape my reality. To process things which I didn't fully understand yet. I enjoy drawing made-up animals, because it gives me the opportunity to think about how certain traits developed and why. Whereas writing about people and creating a fictional universe has taught me things I'd never given much thought to. Such as, how a flame would move in a certain situation or how a particular tradition came to be. Despite writing about magical worlds where logic mostly flies out the window, I do try to be as accurate as I can, whilst maintaining an artistic license.

Listen to those thoughts. You would be better off to spend your time and energy studying for a STEM degree.

I'm actually going for a journalism degree. I think that it's possible to be invested in both pop culture and education. I'm just struggling to maintain the balance in my mind.