In the Fiction vs Nonfiction debate, there is a popular stereotype that fiction writers are much more creative than nonfiction writers. While most people are familiar with the fictional story from Shakespeare or Tolkien, nonfiction is much less interesting to most. Nonfiction writers tend to focus on specific topics and cover the same ground that other writers have covered in depth.
That is the case for most of the writers with who I have worked over the years. It can be tough to get clients to focus on their content if their goal is to make money. Content for the clients who are thinking about the business side of their content would be much more interesting to them than fiction.
They may love the idea of the nonfiction book but would be less likely to pick up their favorite writer’s book if that was all they had to offer.
Why Fiction Beats Nonfiction
When you read the following, take note of whether you think it is true or not:
– Nonfiction is more boring.
– There is no suspense in nonfiction books.
– Writers are much less creative than fiction writers.
– Writers are only writing about what they have already done.
– Nonfiction writers are only writing about science.
– Nonfiction writers can’t write for the money.
What’s the truth?
Nonfiction, Fiction, and Money
In my experience, both writers I’ve listed above are true, to varying degrees. Nonfiction writers tend to be about money. Fiction writers tend to be about money.
But there are significant differences.
WHAT IS FICTION?
What is a fiction story? Is it something that only happens to people in fiction? What is fiction?
It seems to me that if I say that a fiction story is one that happens to some characters and not others, then I’m saying that it’s really just a story and it’s a story that happens to be ‘real’, but that that’s not what I’m saying.
In that case, what is it that makes fiction stories possible?
If we suppose that the story has a beginning, a middle, and an end, then what makes the beginning, the middle, and the end possible? What makes it possible for a story to have those things? What makes those things happen in those ways?
Fiction is a type of story where things are possible which are not possible in real life, for example, things such as the death of main characters, things such as impossible situations, or things such as main characters doing things that they wouldn’t normally do, or things such as main characters being physically stronger than they normally are.
For example, if I were to go into a room with a bunch of people that I didn’t know, then if I asked them to help me, or to do something for me, they would probably not say yes. That would be something they normally wouldn’t do in real life. But in fiction, if I asked them to help me or do something for me, they would probably say yes. That’s the difference between fiction and real life.
But in fiction, things are possible that would not be possible in real life, for example, the main characters getting physically stronger than they normally are. If I went into a room with a bunch of people that I didn’t know, and if I said ‘let’s get up on this table and jump off it, they would probably say ‘no�, but in fiction, they would probably say yes. The world in which fiction happens is not the same world in which real-life happens.
WHAT IS NONFICTION?
A nonfiction story is an accurate story, whereas a fiction story is an invented story that requires research and imagination. You write a nonfiction story if you want to tell the reader how something happened. If you are writing a nonfiction story about an event that took place today, then it’s nonfiction. If you are writing a nonfiction story about an event that happened years ago, then it’s nonfiction. If you are writing a nonfiction story about the invention of the light bulb, then it’s nonfiction.
It’s nonfiction if it happened. And if you base your story on something palpable. If its exist in real life.
Difference Between Fiction Vs Nonfiction Books
What Is the Difference Between Fiction Vs Nonfiction?
Fiction is a very creative and powerful tool. As writers, we tend to get hung up on the creative part.
It is natural to focus on how much fun it is to write. But even if writing is not fun, it will help you if it is a creative outlet.
It is also natural to focus on the fun part, as writing about what you love is often the best kind of writing. But even if writing is not fun, there is no doubt that it can help you if it is. It is important to enjoy the process of writing, to love the act of crafting a story. If you are a writer, you already know this.
But that is not why we write, is it?
Nonfiction writers describe events that have happened in real life. Many books you can read in fiction as well as in nonfiction.
Nonfiction books are mainly about what happened, facts and figures. Some are written about topics that are so real and vivid that you feel like you are seeing something.
Nonfiction writers have the luxury of using first-hand reporting or they can write letters, interviews, or diaries of what happened, as was done during the time of the writer.
For example, an author wrote a biography on Napoleon Bonaparte and went back to his personal journals to use. Fiction books are stories.
Some are written with a plot and a resolution at the end, while some are written so that a plot is nonexistent, but the story is just so interesting that you keep reading to the end.
Nonfiction books are written for a specific audience. Some people buy and read a book with a specific subject in mind. They may have heard a rumor about something and want to find out what is true or what actually happened.
Other people buy a book to make them feel good about themselves. They are looking for self-help books that can teach them about themselves. In the business world, an aspiring author may write about a business subject such as selling books, for a specific audience.
For instance, this would be written for a business owner. The reason to write a book is to sell as many books as possible. People love to read. If you have a book, then you are very passionate about the subject. When you sell, you are very passionate about the subject and they buy.
What makes a book nonfiction or fiction is the message or the information you deliver in the book. The fact that you use real people or real places is usually a telltale sign that it is nonfiction.
The reason you see these people and places in the stories are the words used in your book. Nonfiction and fiction have different structures.
A nonfiction book has the beginning and the end. The beginning tells the story, and the ending contains a conclusion.
This means that nonfiction books are linear and have a beginning and end. In a nonfiction book, facts are listed and the story is written after the facts.
A fiction book usually begins with a character and proceeds from there. The character is important, but the information that you give is the important thing. The author of a fiction book is a storyteller.
Examples of FICTION and NONFICTION
Read also: Blue Snowball Mic
Why We Write Fiction or Nonfiction?
Why do we write? What keeps us writing, even when the writing is not fun?
The act of writing is enjoyable. That part is true. Writing about what you love is the best kind of writing.
But we write for different reasons. Our favorite writers do not write because they love writing, or even because they love the experience of writing, or because they love the creative process.
They write to tell a story.
I wrote this book for reasons far different than what you might expect. You don’t have to agree with me, but you should at least try to understand where I was coming from.
Because it is the story that is the reason we write.
Our job as writers is to tell the best story. And a lot of times, the way to make a story the best one is by not telling it.
Why? Because we want to put ourselves in the shoes of our characters. We want to imagine what they are experiencing. We want to feel what they feel. We want to connect with them on an emotional level. We want to do everything we can to make them feel real.
When we do that, we experience something far greater than reading a novel.
We become our characters. To become your characters, you must feel what they feel. You must empathize with them. You must believe that they feel the way you are feeling.
And if that seems impossible, you should believe that it is not. That is why we write.
So go ahead. Open your laptop. Turn on your phone. You don’t need a word processor or a fancy device. Just turn on your voice recorder. Then, turn on your imagination. And talk.
Talk about what you love. Why do you love it. Talk about your characters. Talk about how they think and feel. Just do not stop talking. For twenty minutes.
Let yourself experience every feeling, good or bad.
If you’ve never recorded anything before, I guarantee you can do it in twenty minutes. Just don’t expect to be able to talk in perfect sentences when you hit the stop button.
I guarantee you’ll find yourself telling stories. And I guarantee you’ll experience a deeper appreciation for the act of writing, for the characters, and for what we write about.
So you will have found your purpose. You will find your purpose by sharing your story with other people.
You can also read: The love for science fiction books.
Fiction vs Nonfiction: Conclusion
When I say that I prefer reading fiction over nonfiction, it’s not because I’m a loner.
On the contrary, I love being around people and I love reading as much as watching tv. Rather, I prefer reading fiction books over nonfiction books because they allow me to better understand the world around me, more than reading nonfiction books. This is why fiction books have been in the vanguard of educating people since ancient times.
While there are many benefits to reading fiction books, there are also some drawbacks.
To start with, some of the books that I read are not of the highest literary quality.
As I grow older I expect that I will read more of the highest literary quality, and hopefully, someday I will.
However, I’ve often read of the highest literary quality, and I’ve often read of lower literary quality. This is why I prefer to read fiction books than nonfiction books.
I enjoy reading, and I enjoy thinking about and talking about, and writing about what I’ve read. I like this because it keeps me interested and because it’s a kind of social activity.
At the same time, however, I get bored when I read, and there’s not much I can do about that. Fortunately, though, there are some nonfiction books that I do enjoy reading.
It’s natural for people to read nonfiction books because they’re interested in many things. For many people, their first exposure to reading is when they read nonfiction books.
But for many people reading nonfiction books is not satisfying because it’s not enough to understand a topic. It’s like having a steak dinner for dinner and being told that it was very nice. But the problem is that you’re hungry for more. You’re hungry for more food. And there’s no more food. People that read-only nonfiction books for many years can often seem to have an encyclopedic knowledge of many things, but this is an entirely different issue than understanding a topic.
While most people read fiction books, most people do not read nonfiction books. A book is a combination of art and craft. Both the book’s physical design and its content contribute to the book’s overall impact.
A book must be designed in a way that is aesthetically pleasing to the reader, and it must include information that is useful to the reader. Both aspects of the book are designed to impact the reader and to get the reader to care about what is being written and to become interested in and to care about the topics being written about.
A book is a compilation of words and sentences. They are symbols of ideas and feelings. But how people think about and react to and perceive and enjoy those symbols can be vastly different.
This is why we’ve written so many book reviews for our blog, and this is why we’ve written so many books that we’ve read. We want to get inside other people’s heads and figure out how they think about and react to ideas and feelings. And how they experience the ideas and feelings they have access to.
It’s the same reason we read books. It’s not just that we’re looking to understand a topic, but it’s also that we’re hoping to enjoy ourselves. We are looking for a good time.
We like to take books apart and try to find out how they work. We think about the things people care about and see how books treat those things. We think about the things people disagree about and see how books treat those things. We think about what we want to do and see how books talk about those things.
We like to take books apart and try to find out how they work.
