Fact or Fiction?–Is Fiction Really Less Valuable than Nonfiction?

Do you ever feel judged for preferring fiction over nonfiction? When someone asks you what you are reading, do you feel slightly ashamed to admit it’s a science fiction or fantasy novel? Do you feel like the person talking about the life-changing autobiography or book on how to lead effectively would probably think you were an immature or lazy individual to be reading a nice cozy mystery instead of spending your time on more self-improvement and you start to wonder, are they really reading the better stuff? Are you less of a person because of your reading choices? Maybe you haven’t ever felt any of these things, but I have, on occasion, felt a little bit like this.

So, is it really true? Are fiction books really less valuable than their nonfiction counterparts? I suppose it depends on who you ask. There are some people that would tell you that they are. However, if you ask me, I’m not quite so sure that fiction books aren’t just as valuable in many ways. Here is why.

Like most things in life, books are best with a proper balance. If you work all the time and don’t have any leisure time, you’ll get tired and burned out and become less effective. If you only eat one type of food (even if it’s a healthy food) you don’t get the variety of nutrients you need to be healthy. If you only do one type of exercise, you’ll miss out on the benefits of other kinds. Variety is the spice of life, as they say. So, even if you really like nonfiction, throwing in a bit of fiction now and then can be valuable. Using the same argument, if you only read fiction, it could halt your development too. So, both are valuable, especially if you are willing to try both kinds on occasion.

Also, fiction isn’t really pure fiction. I don’t think there is such a thing as pure fiction. In every fiction story, there are going to be threads of truth. Ninety-nine percent of the story might be fiction, but there will still be things you can learn from it. In fact, I’m pretty sure I have learned more about how people and societies work and things like that from reading good fiction than I ever have from trying to get it from a nonfiction book. The difference for me is that a nonfiction book that tells you how to work with people or a textbook about psychology or politics that tells you everything you need to know does exactly that. It tells you about these things. Fiction, however, manages to show you these things, and as most writers learn early on, it’s almost always more effective to show rather than tell. Instead of just being told how something works, I can see how it is working in the story. For me, I can internalize it and see how these things apply far better by seeing people working through them in a story than by just having them explained in a lecture from a book. Also, I remember things a lot better if I read or heard them as a story, rather than just a lecture.

Another reason why fiction is just as important is that some people just read fiction better than nonfiction. I have taken several literacy classes (classes on how to teach people to read) and they emphasize that point that studies have shown that for a person to become a better reader, it doesn’t really matter so much what a person reads, it just matters that they are reading. A person can become a stronger reader by reading either fiction or nonfiction. Yes, they should be able to get comfortable reading both, but that will come with reading. If a person becomes a very good reader by reading a lot of fiction, chances are, they will be able to read and understand nonfiction. If it actually gets a person to read, fiction is as valuable, or perhaps even more valuable in that person’s case, as nonfiction.

The way I see it, is that you can’t really say that fiction or nonfiction is more valuable than the other. They both have their place. They both have strengths and weaknesses. In an ideal world, people would happily read both. However, if someone reads mostly fiction, it doesn’t make them less of a person. It doesn’t mean they have less sophisticated taste in books. Let fiction have a chance.

Do you prefer fiction or nonfiction? What are the reasons you love it?