While getting dressed this morning, I streamed ABC National Radio’s The Book Show, which tackled the fact versus fiction debate—why readers gravitate towards non-fiction versus fiction, and what about fiction turns off readers. (Philip Roth recently said he stopped reading fiction because he “wised up.” So there’s that.)
There are about a million different, highly-personal (and likely biological) reasons why some choose to exist in one universe over the other, but the discussion point that most sparked my interest was whether writing fiction changes one’s relationship to reading fiction.
Since falling in love with books, I’ve never been much of a non-fiction reader outside of science journalism; I’ve never felt captivated with the same force as I do when I’m in a novel. However, currently reading Lauren Shockey’s cooking memoir Four Kitchens, and having finished five other non-fiction titles this year (Emma Forest’s Your Voice in My Head, and Jill Bialosky’s History of a Suicide among them), I realized that as my fiction has gained momentum again and I’m back in the middle of revisions, I’ve started to stray more liberally from novels. To me, that’s marked proof that writing fiction has influenced the way I read fiction; whether I don’t want to feel “influenced” or don’t want to “confuse” fictional worlds, I’m unsure, but whatever it is that’s changed in the relationship, it’s shoving me out for now. And I’m fascinated by the thought.
I’m curious about my followers’ experiences, since so many of you are writers: Has your relationship to reading fiction changed as a result of writing fiction?
M
