The Wisdom in Fiction

I became a lover of words when I learned how to read. Words have the power to move me like nothing else can.

By the time I was twelve, I was reading all the time. Aside from my school assigned reading, fiction is what I loved to read- and still do. You could find me, on any given night, hiding in the closet with a flashlight reading fiction long after I was supposed to be in bed. My heart always begging to be in the middle of an incredible story.

In fact, I covered my fiction books with the Dictionary book cover so I could read anywhere (even in class sometimes) and no one would know what I was reading. Everyone thought I was so smart.

They say the power of stories lies in the experiences of losing one’s self. They become a journey in discovering things about ourselves, each other, and the world we share.

Fiction amplifies your creativity

Our imagination thrives off art. Fiction is an awe-inspiring example of art that allows ample room for interpretation. In other words: You’re given a direction, but you create the path. With expanded creativity, you find new ideas that can take any project to the next level.

A 2011 study published in the Annual Review of Psychology, analyzing fMRI brain scans, showed that when participants read about an experience, they exhibit stimulation within the same neurological regions as when they live through that experience themselves.

Fiction, like literature, provides a cozy escape that offered refuge from the often cruel world of my adolescence. It made the real world a little more manageable. In the worlds of fictional characters we learn great truths and immeasurable wisdom.

I have fond memories of reading fiction: when I stayed in bed on a beautiful day just to finish a book, showed up late to events because of a chapter that I just had to finish, and the moments I escaped from an unsettling mood to jump into an unexpected journey.

There are so many truly inspirational pieces of wisdom we learn from characters. We connect to them in their strengths and we see ourselves in their humanity. Fiction helps us see the best and the worst in the world.

Fiction writers help their audiences see the world in a new way. They expose feelings and ideas that have always been there, under the surface, within their readers. Fiction helped me understand life.

To this day, it’s always nice to know that beautiful stories that lie in fiction are awaiting me; even in today’s world of reality television and social media, they’ve never left.

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I believe that, with this great wisdom I have gained wisdom of my own to share.