What makes non fiction nonfiction

Short stories , on the other hand, can be either fictitious or true. For example, if Hollywood substituted a daughter for a son or changed the setting from Alberta, Canada to Montana, you now have a fictionalized account of the story. Or if someone recounted the history of the Crusades to include zombies or mythical creatures, the new creation would be a work of fiction.

It also makes the most of every element of truth that makes the story more relatable to its target audience. How to Outline a Nonfiction Book. While the author may be sharing his opinions or conjectures in response to those facts, the purpose of non-fiction is to faithfully communicate what is factually true.

Or when was the last time you had to defend your position with a logical argument, verifying each premise to ensure that your reasoning was not only valid but sound? One false premise or errant detail would have been enough to give your opponent a firm grip on the rug beneath your feet. What gives non-fiction meaning is its faithfulness to the truth or to the facts. So, non-fiction might tell a story, but it never sacrifices the truth to it.

The purpose of fiction is to tell a story which may have true elements but is not a factual account. The purpose of non-fiction is to communicate facts and associated questions, thoughts, and opinions.

It might tell a story, but the search for truth is its reason for being. It never sacrifices factual accuracy to make the story juicier. You mean to do it. Ensure that you will get around to that summer writing by joining. The best of Creative Nonfiction in your inbox. In Fact Books is an independent book imprint specializing in high-quality, nuanced nonfiction narratives on a wide variety of topics and real-life experiences.

What Is Creative Nonfiction? Simply put: Creative nonfiction is true stories, well told. The cardinal rule is clear—and cannot be violated. As an emerging form, CNF is closely entwined with fiction. Many fiction writers make the cross-over to nonfiction occasionally, if only to write essays on the craft of fiction. This can be done fairly easily, since the ability to write good prose—beautiful description, realistic characters, musical sentences—is required in both genres.

The talented CNF writer will certainly use imagination and craft to relay what has happened and tell a story, but the story must be true. A writer of Creative Nonfiction should always be on the lookout for material that can yield an essay; the world at-large is their subject matter.

Additionally, because Creative Nonfiction is focused on reality, it relies on research to render events as accurately as possible. Their work is somewhat akin to that of a journalist, and in fact, some journalism can fall under the umbrella of CNF as well.