Once I learned to read independently, I read everything in sight. Cereal boxes at the breakfast table, books, anything with writing on it. And yes, I was the kid who used a flashlight under the covers to read after my parents thought it was bedtime.
At the time, I thought reading was a guilty pleasure. If I was reading, I wasn’t playing outside. Or doing something “useful.”
Ha! It turns out that reading, especially fiction reading, has benefits beyond “just” the pleasure of reading. Reading helps us think, live, and solve problems better.
I just learned that by listening to Cal Newport’s Deep Questions podcast: How Do I Build “Cognitive Fitness”? | Monday Advice. I literally just discovered this podcast this week, so I have only listened to that one episode. (I think this is hysterical, since I ask a question each week on this blog. And I have read a couple of Newport’s books. I’m so glad I learned about this podcast now.) While I do not agree with everything Newport says, I found his insights on fiction remarkable.
We All Need to Read
Newport focuses on what he calls “brain rot,” our lessening abilities to read and write. Not because we are bad people. No. Because we are too likely to outsource our thinking to others, especially social media and the LLMs.
I read all kinds of work for my nonfiction: scholarly articles I can cite later, other books for reference or citation, and other colleagues’ writing. As I read, I integrate those ideas. But not because I read—because I also write. That act of writing forces me to integrate what I learn through reading and my experiences. And if I’ve ever confused you with my writing, that’s because I have not yet fully integrated what I am learning. For me, nonfiction reading is active, not passive.
While I also read to inform my fiction, I rarely need scholarly articles or books. I can search for just enough information to make my fiction feel right to the reader. (That’s called versimilitude—the reader does not care if the facts are “right,” the reader only cares that the story feels “right.”)
But I had no idea what my all-consuming fiction habit has done for me over the years.
“I’m Reading…”
My family has learned that when I’m reading, I don’t hear them. They have to come up next to me, tap me on the shoulder, and say, “Mom??” (Or, in Mark’s case, “Johanna?”) When I read, I’m into the flow of the book. Especially if it’s fiction and I enjoy the book. Fiction is not just passive reading for me—it’s also active, but not in the same way that nonfiction is.
When I read fiction, I absorb the various characters, how they frame problems, and how they solve those problems. That increases my empathy with beings who are unlike me and my emotional resilience. Yes, fiction expands my thinking abilities.
I am not alone.
Newport says, “Reading rewires our brains to make it capable of more useful thoughts.” (I think I got that quote right. I’m looking at the video, timestamp 12:00).
Even fiction? Absolutely.
What about the kind of fiction? It does not matter. A “normal” fiction book with just text on a page, electronic or paper? A graphic novel? LitRPG? All of this is fiction. Anything where you create the pictures in your head from the “printed” page—that’s reading. (I include graphic novels because they make the reader add the five senses into the reading experience.)
Reading Helps Us Think, Live, and Solve Problems Better
Because we integrate what the characters in our books do, we reap the benefit of their experiences. We do not have to literally experience anything our characters experience to learn from them. (Which is good, because I am in no shape to do any mountain climbing, or train a K9 dog, or solve a heist. But I love reading about those experiences.)
We can learn from the fictional characters in our books.
Read more. Everything, but especially fiction. If you’re like me, your fiction reading will help you build enough resilience to better manage the ever-present chaos.
Newport recommends a good 20 minutes every day. At the very least, consider reading just before you go to bed. I do, and I find that the next day, I am ready to think, live, and solve problems better.