First, I am sorry for the long delay in posting. I have only four dreaded words to explain my absence: nursery school auction database. Let’s just say that I made a very, very bad decision a few months ago when I signed up to do the database, figuring I could do it at night while watching TV. Needless to say, I won’t be signing up to do it again next year.
My topic today is fiction vs. non-fiction. Bottom line is that I simply can’t get into non-fiction the way I can with fiction. I have tried on multiple occasions over the last several months to get hooked on one non-fiction book or another, only to find each time that they just didn’t grab me the way fiction, even average fiction, does. Now, these are not "good for you" books that I thought I *should* read, like Obama’s book or one on current events or politics. No, these are books on topics that really interest me, such as Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live and One Train Later, Andy Summers’ memoir. (To be fair, I haven’t allowed myself to skip ahead to the part where Andy joins The Police; that would surely raise my enjoyment level of the book). I even started a book I blogged about here called Money Changes Everything. It’s a good book about a topic that interests me – yet, it sits unfinished, on my nightstand, next to the SNL and Andy Summers books.
What’s the deal? Why can’t I get into non-fiction? What is it about fiction that sucks me in? Perhaps it’s the fiction writer’s ability to create perfect pacing, suspense and satisfying endings. Perhaps I just love the escape of reading fiction, knowing that the characters don’t really exist. Perhaps my mind is simplistic and plot-driven and prefers to follow stories rather than facts. Whatever the reason, I know myself – and I know that I am just not satisfied when I am not in the middle of some novel.
Does anyone else feel this way? Is it, as I have heard, a male-female thing?