I just love the stories! I’m not too picky about genre as long as the writing is passable. But why?

1. I love looking inside people’s heads. Yes, it’s creepy but you know you do too. (And I don’t mean the X-rated stuff. That kind of thing is so overdone.) What a person says and does reveals a lot, but what they care enough about to put on paper is something else. The ideas are refined and thought-out, and they are something important. They may not be 100% honest, but they are usually sincere. Some writers don’t even write based on their conscious thoughts!
2. People are unique. Duh, Kate. Of course they are. But…it’s fascinating. Nobody will do exactly the same thing as I would in a certain situation, and I want to see what they think they would do in a situation. I compare it to what I would have done and what makes a good story. (Those are often different.) I like fiction, in particular, because it is entirely from the author’s head with maybe just a reference to reality. I can really see the author’s point of view from that angle.
3. It inspires me. I think of it as “input” that fuels my “output” of my own writing. There is a mystery balance there that I have to maintain. Hearing others’ stories, real or fiction, fuels up my writing batteries for later. I get ideas of things to do and to avoid.

Why do you love stories?