Reading Fiction

So I’ve been reading alot lately. Actually, I’ve read six books over the last two weeks…mostly fiction. Will thinks I’m nuts (“Who does that??). For me though, reading is the ultimate escape so some of my books, I’ll admit, were strictly my own guilty pleasure. However, depending on what you’re reading there is an understanding that comes with delving into the lives of these fictional characters. As a writer, you create characters that you also wonder about and as you begin to explore who they are through your writing you can learn alot about your own perceptions and judgements. For instance, I read a book called “Desperate Pastor’s Wives.” I know what it sounds like but it was actually a really good depiction of some of the trials that the first ladies of our churches endure; some of the unique situations that they find themselves compared to laypersons. It really made me think about how I perceive that role and some of the unfair judgements that are often placed on the wives, and I’m sure husbands, of our ministers of the Gospel.

So that’s what I mean. There is a reflective thing that happens when you have escaped into another world that some writer has created. If they’ve done their job well, you’ll come out of it with some new understanding about people and, maybe, yourself.