A thinner line than you think.

When we think about the terms fiction and non-fiction, we instantly associate these with book-reading, one being the opposite of the other. However, there's not too much of a difference between a book that tells you how to act in a certain situation and other that just narrates the story of a character that doesn't really exist If you don't apply what the first dictates as an advice in your life. In this article I will show you why you don't seem to learn from books and how to overcome this. Let's begin:

Fiction and Non-Fiction

In a literal manner, when we say a book belongs to the category of fiction, we mean that they talk about literature that comes from the imagination, meaning that these kind of lectures were constructed from the mind of an individual, not existing in a real manner though in the consciousness of the people who did read It.

On the other hand, when we talk about non-fiction books, we talk about texts that imply the sharing of ideas, concepts and facts that have really been proved and applied during the past, as well as the narration of events that have really happened in our physical world.

With regards to non-fiction and all Its broadness, knowing that It can go from encyclopedias to biographies, we'll refer more to the ones oriented to giving particular advice on areas of our common life, like taking decisions or talking to other people, where their real value lies in the application of the concepts described, being the only way in which you would be able to retain the information they provided you in a long lasting manner. By reading a book superficially throughout all Its entirety, you surely won't be able to catch up anything, maybe two or three phrases that really caught your attention, and with the passing of a month or two you will have forgotten what they told you. However, If you put the principles learned, as minuscule as they can be, into action in your day to day life, you will be much more able to keep that information. So, the reason why you're not learning a thing from books Is because you're not putting the knowdlege into practice.

What to do about It?

As I've pointed before, you will not be able to catch all that a book has to tell you in Its pages at once, so the best thing to do Is to pay attention to the aspects of It that are to be considered the most important and take maybe those two or three pieces of value for their future application, where, with enough luck, you'll be able to get more than one of the lessons as a teaching for life.

Accompanying this, you shouldn't underestimate the importance of outlining, specially in physical books, as It can prove a perfect way to relearn things when you have forgotten them and you think you need them for a particular situation, giving you what you consider the most important things about the book and saving you a great amount of time by not having to read between filler content.

With this, I hope that I could have taught you that the real difference between fiction and non-fiction books is that their knowledge can be applied in real life situations, which is the only way in which you will be able to remember things for a substantial amount of time and how It can save you not only a lot of time though space in your head for meaningful information. Thank you for your support and good luck!