carnisero

Have you tried audiobooks? I recommend ones that are acted out with a whole cast (a lot of the Sherlock Holmes books, Dune, Daisy Jones and the Six). I feel like it’s a great way to dip your toe in because you have the wonderful voice acting and then can focus on imagining the scenes and characters. By the time you’re immersed in the story, hopefully it’ll come more naturally!

How about reading aloud? I find performing books as I read aloud makes them more enjoyable. Because I’m reading to my kids, I have to read in a way that clarifies what’s happening, and I like doing unique voices for each character so they know who’s talking even if the name is after the speech. That forced me to really understand and imagine the story as in reading.

Another idea is to try narrative nonfiction like popular science or history books with a lot of story telling. The story behind the information can be a bridge to building your imagination.

I think it’s just practice! You’re used to reading factual information, and you’ve got accustomed to it so fiction seems hard work to focus on.

But you can read poetry, so clearly you do indeed have the ability to use your imagination and think/feel when presented with the written word.

I like the idea of one Redditor of trying audiobooks, as the extra dimension of voice, tone, and acting skills can bring out the story more and engage you more deeply.

If you find this works for you, then try reading again [from a book] and it may then be easier.

I think reading requires a lot of curiosity and empathy. Sounds like you already have the curiosity bit down. Just need to translate that curiosity into empathy towards the characters you read - what happens to them, how they resolve the story’s conflict, if you feel they are better people in the end. When you think about it, a lot of fiction is just critical/sociological / philosophical theory expressed aesthetically through story elements.

Maybe look for some fiction that looks to engage your intellect. There is a very wide range of fiction out there. A few types that to mind at the moment would be, a of ideas like The Magic Mountian by Thomas Mann, a novel that blends fact and fiction like Belladonna by Dasa Drndić and W.G. Sebald’s works, The Malazan Book of the Fallen is fantasy that is both philosophical and layered with thousands of years of history.

Once you find the types of books you like it’ll be easy to find more. Getting started is the hard part. Also there is nothing wrong with just reading history! History makes up half of my reading, the only drawback to reading both history and literature is the endless want-to-read lists are even more endless than would otherwise be the case.

Some people just don’t enjoy reading fiction and that’s okay

I mean I’m sure you could if you really want. Maybe try writing or some such. I would probably just read non fiction though. It’s an entirely field of interesting shit that you don’t need to have a creative bone to be fascinated by. Some people just can’t connect with a narrative story all that well but there is no any shame in that.

I am learning another language, and the main advice is do things you enjoy with the language. That being said, read what you enjoy. If fiction and fantasy just makes your mind wander, try some non fiction.

Some fiction contains a lot of information that you might find intriguing. Historical fiction. Science fiction. Don’t worry about fantasy if you don’t vibe with it.

Do you have an internal monologue? … a voice (your voice) that can say things in your head?

It seems some people can imagine some subset of: visuals, audio, smell, sensations (falling, acceleration) easily… and sometimes it takes people a lot of effort.

I take pauses, a few seconds, after reading a description of a person, event, place etc to build a mental picture and continue reading with that in my head. Once created, my head maintains it as I read on.

If you can’t yet, start with something simple… an ambiance of just a color, a time of day, the smell of soil etc.

My friend it’s already invented, what you need is called weed. Just let the high sit for an hour before trying and you’re golden

I think you need to more build up your imagination not that it’s weak. If you haven’t read all that much you are not used to doing that. Try to read stuff that is A.Interests you, B. Is not to wordy (although it helps with small details, with a weakened imagination it just becomes confusing) and C. Short. If it’s too long your mind will definitely wander. Also reading stuff you are familiar with will be easy and train your brain to imagine like a modern story with cars and tv’s. Don’t rush it’s fine to start slow and even re-read more times than you’d care to admit. It may take a while, but try to enjoy the journey and you’ll reach the destination without even realizing it.