How do I relearn to enjoy fiction again?

I used to read a lot of fiction in my teenage years. As time went by, I started to enjoy them less and less. Now every time I try to read fiction I have this lingering voice in the back of my mind saying "the stories aren't real so you're wasting your time reading this"

Nothing is real, though.

stop being such a stemfag. take a drama course. learn to appreciate art in general: film, music, etc. you probably have pleb taste and don't know what's good and therefore aren't satisfied.

So why do you want to enjoy it, if it isn't real?

>have sex with a beautiful and intelligent woman whom I love and who equally loves me for who I am
"uh, I'm not being paid for this, so what's the point"
>hold my newborn infant son in my arms
"but my child isn't a math problem, so how will my parents know to express their approval for this human being I've created?
>live a happy and fulfilling life
"I wish I had spent more time doing something productive, like working a job I didn't care for or doing a detailed cleansing of my extremely dirty ass"

but they are real silly!

I know it's stupid but that's just how I feel, I wanna fix it tho so how?

you don’t want these things to be real user

Maybe you just miss your teenage years.

Well then
do you like music?

The best way to deal with intrusive thoughts is to imagine your thoughts as clouds hovering around, and you can choose what thoughts you want to indulge in. The more you compulse, or the more you succumb to the intrusive thoughts (deciding to stop read fiction), the more unwanted thoughts you will have. If you want to read fiction, you just have to do it. Maybe start by reading small amounts and letting your intrusive thoughts pass by like a cloud. But, keep in mind that pushing yourself to avoid intrusive thoughts will just cause them to keep coming back. Read small bits at a time, acknowledge the thoughts you are having, and then choose to not believe in them.

n-no
yes so?
I probably didn't explain myself well, it's not that I have intrusive thoughts it's just that "feeling" you know, it's in the back of my head it's not like I actively have these thoughts. It's like it's built in to my behavior, like i've grown a habit of feeling like I'm wasting my time reading fiction

Read books that personally appeal to you. Be honest with yourself about what you actually want to read

>yes so?
Music is even less real than books. That doesn't bother you?

but how do I know if a book is appealing to me if I haven't read it yet?
it's different though, you can't really compare music to stories

>it's different though, you can't really compare music to stories
You can. They are both art. Their purpose is the same.

stories have been around ever since men have existed. It's an inherently pleasurable activity. Stop acting like a STEM sperglord and think for yourself for once.

Well done well done

ok I'll try hard
recommend me a good fiction book. i'm going to order it right now

Do the descriptions of some books appeal to you more than others? Start with those and drop them if you don't like them

If you are having trouble getting back into fiction there are a couple of things I can think of that might be part of the problem.
1) you may be reading books which don't really appeal to you. Searching around a little might help you find a genre or author you like.
2) perhaps it's just the case that you aren't wired to enjoy fiction. We all have little things like that that set us apart. If you don't enjoy something maybe you should stop trying to enjoy it, and devote your free time to things that you do enjoy.

My last though here is a little odd, but I think it might be worth a shot. Have you tried writing any fiction? It may help you immerse yourself if you do the worldbuilding. If you invest into something like that it builds value, so writing may be a way to require your old appreciation for fiction. And, best of all, if you write you are creating something. Something which has value, potentially something with value to others. It may not be real, but at least you definitely can't consider it a complete waste of time.

Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun

read Proust

>perhaps it's just the case that you aren't wired to enjoy fiction
naw man I do, I used to enjoy fiction a lot when I was younger, just less so nowadays. Maybe I just haven't read anything good for so long? I'll try to order some books today so I'll keep ya'll updated.

read about this a bit on wikipedia and desu it sounds boring. I'll give the audiobook a shot though

>something exists in the world
>it's "not real"

you mean: they're not "accurate" retellings of historical events

same thing. read through volumes and entire lists of sci fi and fantasy and haven't touched one since college (10 years ago). I'm just getting back into non-fiction with "classics" that i never read because I'm a pleb. Think of fiction as a vehicle to express an idea rather than a bed time story. authors are selling you something you just have to figure out what it is and if you want to buy it

Read up on historiography senpai. Most "nonfiction" stuff is so biased as to be fiction to some degree