the problems of everyday life, or it can even rarefy or clarify the experiences of everyday life through the lens of imaginative play. With fiction you can go anywhere in the world and to any particular time. You can go to the deep south with Alice Walker's The Colour Purple, or the boondocks of Western Australia in Tim Winton'One of my friends recently remarked that reading or writing fiction in his opinion was a waste of time. Of course, he made this remark in jest. Yet I started to look at the value of fiction in a broad context in response to his criticism.

Would readers learn more from a book that teaches them how to run the latest computer application, or how to build a backyard deck than from fiction? Some would content that as fiction is merely imaginative, therefore it's value is less than non-fiction which somehow relates more to "real life." However we define what constitutes the real.

So my defense of fiction rests on certain benefits that it offers to both the human imagination and the soul. The soul in this case is used to define that part of us that gains awareness and depth from reading fiction and will be used interchangeably with spirit, while the imagination is that part of us that allows us to suspend disbelief and enter into a magical world of story-telling.

The oral tradition of story-telling is an art that has survived from early prehistoric hunting-gathering societies of the past to the written stories of today. Through it we maintain a connection of what essentially makes us human in our thoughts, emotions and even dreams.

A good story provides entertainment and an escape from the problems of everyday life, or it can even rarefy or clarify the experiences of everyday life through the lens of imaginative play. With fiction you can go anywhere in the world and to any particular time. You can go to the deep south with Alice Walker's The Colour Purple, or the boondocks of Western Australia in Tim Winton's

application, or how to build a backyard deck than from fiction? Some would content that as fiction is merely imaginative, therefore it's value is less than non-fiction which somehow relates more to "real life." However we define what constitutes the real.

So my defense of fiction rests on certain benefits that it offers to both the human imagination and the soul. The soul in this case is used to define that part of us that gains awareness and depth from reading fiction and will be used interchangeably with spirit, while the imagination is that part of us that allows us to suspend disbelief and enter into a magical world of story-telling.

The oral tradition of story-telling is an art that has survived from early prehistoric hunting-gathering societies of the past to the written stories of today. Through it we maintain a connection of what essentially makes us human in our thoughts, emotions and even dreams.

A good story provides entertainment and an escape from the problems of everyday life, or it can even rarefy or clarify the experiences of everyday life through the lens of imaginative play. With fiction you can go anywhere in the world and to any particular time. You can go to the deep south with Alice Walker's The Colour Purple, or the boondocks of Western Australia in Tim Winton'

both the human imagination and the soul. The soul in this case is used to define that part of us that gains awareness and depth from reading fiction and will be used interchangeably with spirit, while the imagination is that part of us that allows us to suspend disbelief and enter into a magical world of story-telling.

The oral tradition of story-telling is an art that has survived from early prehistoric hunting-gathering societies of the past to the written stories of today. Through it we maintain a connection of what essentially makes us human in our thoughts, emotions and even dreams.

A good story provides entertainment and an escape from the problems of everyday life, or it can even rarefy or clarify the experiences of everyday life through the lens of imaginative play. With fiction you can go anywhere in the world and to any particular time. You can go to the deep south with Alice Walker's The Colour Purple, or the boondocks of Western Australia in Tim Winton'

oral tradition of story-telling is an art that has survived from early prehistoric hunting-gathering societies of the past to the written stories of today. Through it we maintain a connection of what essentially makes us human in our thoughts, emotions and even dreams.

A good story provides entertainment and an escape from the problems of everyday life, or it can even rarefy or clarify the experiences of everyday life through the lens of imaginative play. With fiction you can go anywhere in the world and to any particular time. You can go to the deep south with Alice Walker's The Colour Purple, or the boondocks of Western Australia in Tim Winton'

the problems of everyday life, or it can even rarefy or clarify the experiences of everyday life through the lens of imaginative play. With fiction you can go anywhere in the world and to any particular time. You can go to the deep south with Alice Walker's The Colour Purple, or the boondocks of Western Australia in Tim Winton's Dirt Music. Anything and everything is possible in scope of fiction with only the human imagination and spirit as the limit.

How many times have you curled up with a good book and found yourself relaxing right into your chair or sofa? The pace of reading is set to you, not to how fast images can be flashed across a TV screen. We need to allow ourselves the opportunity to relax in such a way in order to give ourselves some well-earned R 'n R.

If we stop valuing imagination, creativity and dreams in our lives, then we must reexamine our attitudes. Why do we not allow ourselves to read something for the joy that it offers? Why must we always justify our time in terms of being productive?

Richard Green in his book on writing, The Writing Experience, remarks that Western culture is left-brain oriented instead of right-brain, so one consequence of this imbalance is linear thinking that limits our mind from new possibilities, instead of holistic thinking where we more readily see the interconnections. Reading fiction reconnects us to the right hemisphere of our brain, allowing for greater creativity, intuition and the ability to understand the "big picture."

Reading fiction can make life rich and enjoyable but when we are preoccupied with other matters of existence, we find it hard to