Non-fiction

Sadly, most the of the reading I do is non-fiction. It's sad because most non-fiction is really badly written. I have to read it because I need the information. Or at least I think I do.

Every now and then an author will try to use a fictional story to deliver information. I applaud the attempt but most of the time these guys just aren't writers. It is more embarrassing than anything.

I read an article recently that said there was a national effort that was aimed at reducing the amount of fiction kids read in school and increasing the amount of non-fiction they read. Apparently this will help them with their reading to learn. I can't give you a reason why but somehow I think that is a bad idea. Maybe if we had better writers non-fiction would get better. This approach just seems to make it likely that in the future non-fiction is just going to get worse.

I am especially surprised at how many of my colleagues seem to hold fiction in contempt. They seem to take pride in the fact that they don't read fiction. That attitude can't be good for fiction.

I think we should have regular fiction weeks, like maybe once a quarter. Everyone should be encouraged to read fiction that week. Maybe we could get professionals to put down their "latest trends" non-fiction and pick up a really good story instead.