If someone asked you, “How do you know if a book is fiction or non-fiction?” what would you say? Most people think they have a good idea of the difference between the two. It’s simple – fiction isn’t real, non-fiction is, right?

Not so simple – the two can very easily overlap. Often, fiction has a lot of facts while non-fiction can, and often does, involve the imagination. If you were asked to judge a fiction vs non-fiction contest, what would you be looking for? Would fiction always be imaginary? Would non-fiction always be about fact and truth?

Are short stories always going to be fictional and are magazine articles always non-fictional?

You see, things are never as clear as they first seem but, thankfully, there is a way of telling the difference and it all lies in knowing exactly what each one is.

What is Fiction?

Fiction is writing that describes people and events that are imaginary. However, true stories can also be used, with pertinent details changed, making the narrative fictional and not factual. So, what is a novel? Fiction or non-fiction?

Look in the dictionary and ‘novel’ is defined as “a fictitious prose narrative of book-length”. So that means a novel is always fiction.

Short stories are different – they can be real or imaginary. If they are true, if the story is being told compellingly, it's called ‘creative non-fiction’.

Examples of fiction include:

Mystery novels, short stories, cozy mysteries, novellas

Horror novels, short stories, novellas

Collections of short stores that are not true – fiction

Movies based on characters from a series or a novel

TV series

Where do fictional accounts of a true story come in? What about the movies you see that are ‘based on a true story’? Those words are no guarantee that all details are true. If it isn’t a documentary, if the words ‘artistic license’ come into it anywhere, it is classified as fiction. Let’s say that you take a true story, change all female characters for male and vice versa, change names, change the setting, and so on, it would become a fictionalized account of the truth.

If, however, you read an account of someone’s experience in high school, right down to staff indiscretion, bullying, etc., but changed names to protect people or avoid lawsuits, it would be classed as non-fiction, so long as it was made clear names had been changed.

Fiction never, ever pretends that it is non-fiction and it will never be held to account for any deviation from truth or fact.  Instead, it will use them to the fullest and it will also use any element of truth that makes the store more relatable to readers.

Specific examples of fiction include:

Novels such as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien and the Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling and all the movies that were based on them

TV Series – Stargate: Atlantis, Doctor Who, etc.

Collections of short stories such as The Complete Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway, and Nine Stories by J.D Salinger

In the next part, we look at what non-fiction is.