I don’t know why, but I can read a non-fiction book cover to cover, but lose interest in fiction books after one chapter.
I want to get into fiction books but have yet to find any that have been able to keep my attention.
Any suggestions or tips??
by SunnieKeepingSecrets
7 Comments
I’m the opposite. I can’t bear to read non-fiction all the way through. Especially biographies/autobiographies. Those are the worst.
I can pretty much only read “hard” fiction. I can’t ready fantasy, can never get through it (exception being Harry Potter). I also can’t read biographies or self help books.
“Fiction” is such a broad spectrum that you’re really going to need to be more specific. You could have no interest in a five-book high fantasy series when you want a romance novella, or vice versa.
What kind of fiction have you tried? Why didn’t you like it?
I really really struggle with it too, luckily my partner is a writer and reads fiction pretty voraciously. If you can reach out to a friend who reads a lot of fiction and they know you well, they may be able to point you in a good direction. Otherwise, I’m a fan of just going all out, as weird or shocking as possible, to help hold your attention. My partner had me read Blood and Guts in High School by Kathy Acker and it really opened up fiction for me again after years of not being interested.
Are you sure you want to get into fiction books? If you don’t like something, you don’t like it. If you’ve got it in your mind that you absolutely must read fiction, you may want to try thrillers/suspense. Dan Brown is pretty good in that area. I also read under the dome in about a week, and that’s 1,000 pages. King kept up the pressure the whole time. The Dresden Files by Butcher also have good pacing, and he’s a great writer.
What type of non-fiction are you reading? You can probably find a fiction book that’s in the same style.
Eg. If you’ve read autobiographies you can find similar first person novels. If your reading history books then you can find similarly styled books.
Both fiction and nonfiction are very large genres with many sub-genres, most people are going to like one of these sub-genres.
Also note that fiction isn’t all fantasy, I’m sure you know this but there are many books which have no distinction from non fiction except that they didn’t happen.
I’m wondering if you’re feeling fiction is a waste of time, or that you could/should be doing something more productive? That’s just a hunch, but if it is correct, I’d remind myself that rest and relaxation are incredibly important to a balanced life.