I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I consider myself a passionate reader but I only read fiction. Even if a story is interesting I find it hard to read if it is non fiction. Once in some facebook group an admin asked me if I read certain document. And I was too ashamed to tell her that I didn’t because it’s non fiction. I mean I like quite a lot of different topics but when it comes to long articles and books – I just can’t. How can I grow into non fiction reader? Cause “only fiction” refrains me from reading a lot of great stories… I once took a book about Lithuanian history with a pretty interesting topic fallowing a personal story. But I couldn’t finish it. Couldn’t read even halfway through. It was for a reading challange. I hope one day I will be able to read it…
by MistyRoyal
2 Comments
What about creative non-fiction like memoir and personal essay? There is such a broad category of what counts as non-fiction and some of it isn’t some “long article” or book.
Get a stack of New Yorker magazines (old is fine) and look for nonfiction, personal histories, profiles for people or topics that interest you. Read the first page and don’t feel guilty about stopping after that. I recently enjoyed this profile of a Hollywood scriptwriter: [NY – Scott Frank](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/01/how-a-script-doctor-found-his-own-voice) who is so talented as a script doctor that he struggles to find time for his own creative endeavors.
Fiction has a lot of bad writing, nonfiction can be too dry and non engaging.