I’ve been writing stories since I could write (which was before I started school). The earliest work I remember (that my parents saved anyhow) was a horrid poem entitled “Silly Mouse.” It didn’t even rhyme. However, as I matured, my writing (I like to think) improved.

When we were in grade school, my sister and I found a nifty new game in one of those Scholastic-type school magazines. It was called “Plot Luck” and the goal was to write a crazy story as you moved your token along the pathway to the finish line. It provided word prompts at various points, which you had to incorporate into your story. My sister and I used to compete to see who could come up with the silliest story, then see if our parents would laugh at it. We cut the pages out of the magazine and mounted the game on a piece of cardboard so it would last longer. We played for hours at a time, exercising our imaginations and creating tale after tale. I wish I still had that old game, just for nostalgia purposes, but it fell apart long ago.

When I was in middle and high school, I kept up my reading and writing, even getting a short poem published in the local newspaper for a contest. Unfortunately, I was convinced by well-meaning adults that writers didn’t make a good living and encouraged to make a career in the other area in which I excelled: science. I have to say that the paychecks have been satisfactory, but there are times I wonder what my career would have been like if I’d taken the leap and tried to become a full-time writer back in the beginning (or maybe took the writing more seriously and tried harder to get published).

It wasn’t until the mid-90s that I began seriously sending out short stories to magazines and getting paid for my work. I even got a couple of stories compiled into two “Best Of” anthologies, which was heartening. Then I found out about NaNoWriMo, where you sign up to write 50,000 words in 30 days. My best friend dared me to do it, and I dug out an old fan-fiction piece I’d done, changed the names and a bit of the scenario, and had a go at it. I ended up with a finished novel. It’s been through a few revisions, but it’s ready to be published if I can just find a publisher who doesn’t think “caper” stories are dead. Like I said, I should have started publishing sooner, like back when those were more popular.

I now have three historical novels written, along with a (now out-of-print) anthology of short stories that sold tolerably well. One of my alter-egos has five e-books at a small press and the other alter-ego is editing our first science-fiction novel. I’ve published several of my short stories in magazines and anthologies. I’m hoping to attract the attention of a sci-fi agent at sometime soon. And, as with Disney, it all started with a mouse.

Fiction is a story that is all or partially made-up, something that didn’t or won’t (or might not) actually happen. Why do we love fiction so much? And should you love it too?

1. Fiction allows us to use our imagination. You’re learning when you read non-fiction, but with fiction, you’re creating. You’re dreaming up a universe and living inside of it for awhile. Your creative side gets a good workout with a fiction novel or story.
2. Fiction entertains us. Non-fiction is educational, but fiction is just plain fun. And you need some fun in your life sometimes.
3. Fiction teaches us. Sure, non-fiction is educational, but fiction can teach us a lot, too. You can learn a lot by reading what the characters know and do in the story, and you can pick up facts about new places and ideas from reading fiction.
4. Fiction improves our vocabulary. The more you read, the better your vocabulary gets, and the smarter you’ll be. Readers are good conversationalists for this reason.
5. Fiction broadens our horizons. The more you read about different places, different cultures, different people and different ideas, the broader your mind will be.

You can see that reading — anything at all! — is good for your brain. If you’re a non-fiction reader, try some fiction once in awhile to see how much fun it can be.

Why do you read fiction?