Develop Your Social Skills: Read a Novel
July 27, 2008 by Lillie
I recently described my love of reading that began in childhood and continues today.
The article Get Lost – In a Book talks about research done at the University of Toronto that shows:
Frequent fiction readers may thus bolster or maintain their social abilities unlike frequent readers of non-fiction.
The article also quotes from Robert McKee’s book Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting
Long live us bookworms!
Lillie, what can I say, I take great pride in beeing a bookworm. And I’ve been working hard on getting back to more fiction reading lately. Looks like a book a week might finally work for me without much effort
The books I read give me good ideas, show me something new to learn and by helping me to relax and take a break from daily craziness, they help me make better decisions.
Alina Popescus last blog post..No PR Leads to Bad PR
Alina,
I’m glad to be in such good company in the bookworm community.
I can’t understand writers that DON’T read (grin). I mean, how is that possible??
–Debs last blog post..Open House
Hi Lillie – the research findings were interesting weren’t they? Like you, I’ve always been a bookworm. But lately, I’ve been reading far too much non-fiction. These results are a good excuse to grab myself a few novels that I’ve been wanting to read for ages.
I am also a real bookworm, but it makes me more anti-social. I even try to outrun people I know when I take the train in order to read
But that might be me.
Olivier
Olivier @ mindfulness exercisess last blog post..Entrecard news.
Cath,
I agree—this research gives us a good excuse to read more novels. We often hear that reading fiction is a waste of time—now we know better.
Deb,
I don’t understand how it’s possible for ANYONE, especially writers, not to read … a lot.
i was a bookworm before the using internet.it made me interworm
5001s last blog post..Roofing company in Massachusetts
I think a lot of us are also interworms—what a clever name!
This is really cool. Who would have thought?
I am so happy to hear this recent research. We homeschool our son who was diagnosed with a speech delay at 2.5. When it came time to teach him to read, I remember being told to start with sight words, that there was no way to “teach” him, he just had to memorize them. He struggled and when I saw it was the one aspect of learning that was causing tension in our home, I decided to put the cards away.
I never did get them back out, nor did we engage in further structured reading learning. Instead, I encouraged our son to just enjoy reading as an everyday part of life. Soon, he was reading signs to us, then information on the side of products…..everyone was worried but me. I thought, if he can read the important stuff, I’m happy right now.
It turns out my “read to enjoy it” lassez-faire attitude worked. At the age of 9, he is in the middle of a Tom Clancy book, and only took a break to read an X-Files novel in preparation for seeing the new movie yesterday. It amazes me that 5 years ago mere sight words brought him to tears, and now he asks if he can stay up a little late at bedtime to read Sam Fisher’s latest covert mission out loud to me. That his love of fiction is making him a little more social is the icing on the cake!
I am proud to be a bookworm as well. Shockingly, Majority of people don’t like us(Bookworms) because they think that we are some species from outside of this world. For me, it is blessing and such an addiction which will end with my life.
Outside of editing books and other documents, we here at Precise Edit have begun to weave a small group of book worms together to create a “club”, if you will. It wasn’t our initial intentions to begin a book club. One of us reads a great book and recommends it or lends it to another, and so on. Then, on occasional gatherings, we all have brief discussions of the books. Sometimes, a “non-member” will listen in on the discussions and will ask, “Hey, can I borrow that book?” The great thing that we’ve come to realize is how each person takes a piece of fiction and incorporates it into their lives or reflects on it differently from the next person. The world of fiction is a world of wonder, surprise, emotion, conflict, and most often than not, resolution. It’s a great world for a book worm to live in!
Joe,
All us bookworms can latch on to this to justify our compulsion … er, our habit.
Your son’s story is a testament to your parenting and teaching skills as well as the value of reading. Seeing so many children labeled with terms like speech delay, ADD/ADHD, autism, etc. concerns me. Although I certainly want those problems recognized rather than children being labeled lazy, I think the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction (as always seems to be the case). The experts decide what’s best for children with challenges, and often I’m afraid they aren’t allowed to live up to their potential. Your experience shows that children, even those with challenges, can learn better if they are given some freedom and encouragement—and probably also an excellent example of a parent or parents who love reading.
I have a niece with severe physical and mental handicaps, and my sister faced lots of criticism for giving the child simple chores around the house, things like putting her dishes on the tray of her wheelchair and taking them to the sink. Lots of people—educators and well-meaning friends—were horrified that my sister would make such a helpless child actually do something. But that helpless child has grown up to be far more independent than anyone would expect for someone with her severe disabilities. She requires assistance with many activities of daily living, but she also has self-esteem and is so proud of her job in a sheltered workshop. She travels around the neighborhood in her wheelchair and is friends with everyone she meets. If my sister had treated her the way the experts said, she would probably be completely home-bound. Congratulations on having the wisdom to listen to your heart and teach your son the way that was best for him
Steve,
People who think we’re strange should try reading and see what they’re missing. It’s the healthiest addiction I know.
Alina,
A club for bookworms is a great idea, and what better place than an editing company—people dedicated to words.
Years ago, when I owned an interior landscape company, we set up a big box in our breakroom. Employees donated their books when they finished reading them and selected others to take home and read. The same books were returned and recycled again. The people who read and exchanged books included office staff and laborers. In fact, one of the most prolific readers of romance novels was a laborer over 6′ feet and weighing over 300 pounts—a tough-looking guy most people would think couldn’t even read. Although we didn’t have the discussions you have—a great idea!—often people would recommend and informally chat about favorite books.
reading novels for developing social skills??
I doubt
reading novels is great thing but many times it tends to isolate you…
I have received this complain from my friends as I jus love to read novels
Well, I’ll accept the results of the study. It just gives me scientific justification for what I love to do.
Ha! When I was in elementary school, I used to look forward to the days we’d take a trip to the library. Once we’d get there, I used to check out as many books as were permissible per my account…(can you tell I’m a bookworm?)
Ribeezie,
Your story is a familiar one for bookworms. And I’ll bet you finished all those books long before the next library trip, right?
Well I’m embarrassed to admit, but yes I did :-p
Don’t be embarrassed to admit it, Ribeezie. That’s a badge of honor for a bookworm!
I love it, love it, love it! My husband and I are both readers – I read fiction and he reads nonfiction. I can’t wait to tease him about this . . .
Renaes last blog post..V.I.P. Guest Coming to Morning Coffee
Renae,
Just point him to the research study … you don’t have to say “I told you so.”
I also like to read a novel and now I know read a novel can develop social skills.Thank you
Yiwu,
It’s great to have research to justify our reading addiction, isn’t it.
WOW what a statement. I feel better about reading so much now, especially the fiction I read.
Dianes last blog post..Pirate Bathroom Makeover
Diane,
Now we have a good excuse to do what we love!
Lillie, what a wonderful gift your sister has given her daughter. I am working on my degree in speech and language pathology and one of the things that concerns me is how much of the way we treat children is based upon “averages.” While they are definitely needed, we also tend to forget that the “average” is still comprised of many different numbers along the spectrum. Within that group from which the normal/typical data came, there still existed many on the high and low ends of the measurement. What happens to those kids who need a little more or a little less….are they ABnormal? No, they are still normal–just different. They are normal, but not typical. They are normal, but not average.
That is soooo hard for most of our culture to grasp, however. It’s frustrating sometimes, but I believe that no one but a parent knows there own child best. We should follow that instinct more often instead of allowing the “experts” to tell us how to raise them. I have no problem taking their experience and research into consideration, but ultimately we should trust ourselves more to do what is best for our kids. Your sister is a shining example!
Your words should be heard and incorporated by everyone who works with “different” children … and every parent (whether the children are “normal” or “different”). Too often parents allow advice from education and medical professionals to override their own instincts. As you say, certainly educational and medical research and experience should be considered and used, but parents should not allow “facts” to wipe out their hearts.
Could it be because fiction forces you to use your imagination? And that imagination entails development of sympathy and empathy for characters?
I have a feeling it is this which allows social skills to be more evident in fiction readers, and maybe less evident in those who are concerned more with facts and analyses than with emotion and the human struggle.
Lionel,
That is a great observation. I don’t think the study got into the “why” but your suggestion makes a lot of sense. Good fiction involves the reader in the characters and the situations so much they feel like they are part of the story, and it’s likely those experiences develop social skills in a way similar to how the skills would be developed if the readers dealt with the characters and situations in real life.
In my mind reading is a life/survival skill that helps in so many areas. I read a ton in Junior High and High School and I noticed that my friends who read a lot tended to do better on the ACT and SAT standardized tests than those who didn’t read much. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but even the smart kids who didn’t read outside of school didn’t do nearly as well as those who read for fun. Of course, I didn’t become much of a social butterfly until college when I stopped reading.
Ahh…maybe you need to start reading again to become a social butterfly.
Your observation about students who read doing better on standardized tests makes sense—readers have a broader range of knowledge than non-readers because they learn so much from reading. Even when reading for fun, they’re exposed to experiences and knowledge that they wouldn’t know about otherwise.
As a father of two ASD boys, I really appreciate your blog and the information you post!
Reading may be particularly valuable for autistic children who find social skills difficult.
I just responded to a recent comment and see that all my replies on earlier comments on this post were lost when I moved my blog. There was a response to every comment.
So that’s why I’m so awesome with people!
Joking aside, I do think that fiction (good fiction) stimulates the mind and exposes the reader to far more social situations and role models.
We tend to associate and relate ourselves to tv or book characters.
The influence is remarkable and unmistakable.
Go read!
Fan,
I hope readers of my new romantic mystery novel have this kind of reading experience.
Olivier,
I tend to spend more time reading than socializing … but I’ll use the research results to prove that reading fiction is good for me.