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View Full Version : Facts from Fiction: Separating



cacian
12-07-2012, 10:21 AM
Is all your writing including characters and subplots strictly fictional?

I tend to write away from reality at all times because it encourages imagination. The only expection I make to this rule is that all animals if ever included are kept strictly real ie they have no bearing of human like features of any kind.
The more what I write is incredible the more imaginative the piece is.
This would be for fictional stories only.

For the non fiction stories however it is different. To write about the human condition for example I would fuse fiction and reality to create an idealised view of it. So instead of reporting on a already existing human tragedy I would 'photoshop it' if you like to give it a new lease of life. I wish not to borrow sorrows and pity from the reader but I want to pass on new ideas and how to reform it. Reformation of ideas through reading plays an important role in the sense that it makes readers become actively aware rather then passive aware.
The fusion of fiction and reality should by right exhibit rather then expose in order to dispose. In other words I would write about the human condition in a way that it has never been written or thought of before. As a writer I wish to report on an already existing condition but I would highlight it to improve rather then disapprove it.

Charles Darnay
12-07-2012, 10:53 AM
I think you have missed the point of "non-fiction" - mainly the "non" part.

As for fiction, some elements must be grounded in reality. If you look at the genre of Fantasy or SciFi - the two genres that take the most liberties with reality - there is always a realistic presence in them, either in characters or themes. Otherwise, your reader has nothing to grasp on to. We can only understand what we have some familiarity with: this is why the most successful works of literature tend to be those that deal with the universal matters that everyone has some familiarity with (love, hate, loss, longing....)

cacian
12-07-2012, 11:09 AM
I think you have missed the point of "non-fiction" - mainly the "non" part.

As for fiction, some elements must be grounded in reality. If you look at the genre of Fantasy or SciFi - the two genres that take the most liberties with reality - there is always a realistic presence in them, either in characters or themes. Otherwise, your reader has nothing to grasp on to. We can only understand what we have some familiarity with: this is why the most successful works of literature tend to be those that deal with the universal matters that everyone has some familiarity with (love, hate, loss, longing....)

I missed the non fiction bit.
Are you able to explain?

Charles Darnay
12-07-2012, 11:25 AM
Well you write:



For the non fiction stories however it is different. To write about the human condition for example I would fuse fiction and reality to create an idealised view of it.


Once you start fusing fiction into a non-fiction story - it is no longer non-fiction. That is not to say that you can't have your own style in the story - not all non-fiction consists of bland reporting - but you can't make up details and throw them in, claiming it is non-fiction.

hillwalker
12-08-2012, 05:50 PM
Fiction = a made-up story
Non-Fiction = Fact
You can't have a 'non-fiction story' unless it's a report of a real event (though some writers fuse the two where they have real live historical characters, for example, taking part in a fictionalised setting).

As for your statement


In other words I would write about the human condition in a way that it has never been written or thought of before. As a writer I wish to report on an already existing condition but I would highlight it to improve rather then disapprove it.

That should be interesting!

H

Delta40
12-08-2012, 06:18 PM
What you can do is report an event using your own subjective view.