Writing Fiction and Writing Nonfiction: Similarities and Differences

By Karen Cioffi
 
Writing fiction and writing nonfiction have some distinct similarities and differences.

But, before we get into that, let’s find out the definitions of fiction and nonfiction:

Fiction: According to Merriam-Webster.com, fiction is “something invented by the imagination or feigned, specifically an invented story; the action of feigning or of creating with the imagination.”

Nonfiction: Merriam-Webster’s definition of nonfiction is “literature or cinema that is not fictional.” According to Allwords.com, nonfiction is “written works intended to give facts, or true accounts of real things and events.”

Now on to the similarities and differences.

Writing Fiction and Writing Nonfiction Similarities:

1. You need to start with an idea.
2. You can write about almost anything.
3. You need ‘good’ writing skills (at least you should have good writing skills).
4. You need to have a beginning, middle, and end to the story.
5. You need to have an engaging, entertaining, informative, or interesting story.
6. You can work from an outline or you can seat-of-the-pants it.
7. You may need to do research.
8. You need to revise, proof, and edit your work.

Writing Fiction and Writing Nonfiction: Two Significant Differences

1. If you are writing nonfiction, you must stick to truths and facts, a nickel is a nickel, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, two plus two equals four, and 10 times 10 equals 100. While there may be some grey areas, such as perspective, circumstances, or circumstantial evidence leading up to a fact based story, the fact is always the fact.

As an example: The earth rotates every 24 hours and it takes 365 days for the earth to revolve around the sun once. The earth is an average of 384,400 km from the moon.1 Due to gravity, if you weigh 100 pounds on earth, you would weigh 17 pounds on the moon.2

These are facts. If you’re writing a nonfiction story about astronomy, these facts can’t change. Your story is limited to truths and facts. This is not to say the story can’t be amazingly interesting and engaging. The children’s middle-grade nonfiction book “The World’s Easiest Astronomy Book” can certainly spark a child’s imagination and interest in astronomy.

On the other hand, if you’re writing fiction, your imagination is your only limit. You don’t have to stay within the confines of what is known, what is truth. This offers a certain freedom.

If you want the sun to be ‘blood red,’ then it’s blood red. If you want to be able to travel to the moon in the blink of the eye, then it’s so. If you say a character can ‘walk through walls’ or is invisible, then he can and is. You can create new worlds, new beings . . . again, your imagination is your only limit.

2. In writing nonfiction you will most likely need to provide reference sources and add quotes to your story. This is to establish the reliability and credibility of your story.

If you notice above, in regard to the facts about the moon, there are subscript numbers after certain sentences. These numbers reference where the information was found, the sources of the information, and they substantiate the facts within the content. This makes your nonfiction story credible.

This is not the case with writing fiction. With fiction, you will not need information references for credibility. Although, it’s important to realize that your fiction story will become its own truth and you will need to stay within the confines of the particular story you create.

The reason for this: every story needs structure and intent; it needs to move forward to a satisfying ending. If you move off in too many directions, you’ll lose your intent and most probably your reader. To ensure the structure and your intent remains intact, you’ll need to stay within the confines of the story you create.

While the similarities between writing fiction and writing nonfiction seem to outweigh the differences, the differences are significant enough for most writers to prefer one genre over the other.

Image copyrighted by Karen Cioffi

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Other articles on writing:

Successful Writing Strategy: Know Your Intent
Storytelling: Don’t Let the Reader Become Disengaged
Imagery and Your Story




PPSS If you find this article interesting or helpful, please SHARE it!

Writing Workshop: Creating Great Characters

Yep, that's right, Writers on the Move has another helpful workshop geared for writers. As a writer I know the importance of learning my craft and that means attending informative writing workshops that help me on my writing journey. So, be sure to register this week!

Here's the basic information you'll need:

Title: Creating Great Characters
Presented by: Maggie Ball
Date: December 07, 2011 (Wednesday)
Time: 5:00 - 5:45 PM EST (U.S.)
Format: Live Webinar
Handout: Yes
Cost: Free

Workshop Description:

Think of amazing characters, such as Sherlock Holmes, Scarlett O'Hara (Gone with the Wind), Tarzan, Scout Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird), Peter Pan, Charlotte (Charlotte's Web), T. S. Garp (The World According to Garp), Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man), Harry Potter, the list goes on and on.

Characters are at the heart of every great story and every fiction author needs to know how to create good ones. Think temperament, intelligence, appearance, physical characteristics, quirks, moods, mannerisms, and so on. Great characters need to be real, engaging, and motivating; they need to keep the reader reading. They need to touch something in the reader; they need to be remembered.

Join Maggie Ball as she discusses characterization.

To register for “Creating Great Characters” email Maggie Ball at: maggieball@compulsivereader.com

Details to attend the LIVE WEBINAR will be provided upon registration.

There will also be a bonus PDF workshop handout included and registered attendees will receive a recording of the live webinar.

For the full details CLICK HERE.

PLEASE SHARE THIS WORKSHOP INFORMATION!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Until next time,
Karen Cioffi
http://karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com

Book Marketing How-To Lauded as "Invaluable" by Midwest Review

The Frugal Book Promoter, second edition
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
HowToDoItFrugally Publishing
Author’s Web site: www.carolynhoward-johnson.com
ISBN: 9781463743291

Paperback $17.95
Paperback on Amazon
Kindle Edition

Reviewed by Jim Cox, editor of The Midwest Review

Originally for The Midwest Review and Newsletter

Carolyn Howard-Johnson draws upon her many years of experience and expertise as a professional book publicist and marketing specialist to author "The Frugal Book Promoter". The 416-page compendium of commentary, advice, tips, tricks and 'real world' techniques on how to authors can obtain nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with their publishers will prove to be an invaluable, practical, profitable, and thoroughly 'user friendly' instructional reference.

 

It should be noted that the Midwest Book Review is cited four times.

Of special note in this newly expanded and completely updated second edition are the sample letters query letters, media releases, blog entries, trade show invitations, phone pitch scripts, email auto-signatures, and tip sheets. Simply stated, "The Frugal Book Promoter" is the single most valuable addition any aspiring author or novice small press publishers can add to their personal and professional book marketing reference shelves -- and has a great deal of enduring value for even the more experienced publisher marketing directors and publicists.

Three Ways to Powerfully Reawaken Your Creativity

Three Ways to Powerfully Reawaken Your Creativity

A writer’s life is often filled with many demands, challenges and conflicting priorities. As a result, many writers experience chronic stress which can negatively impact their craft and dampen their sense of creativity. Here are three simple yet powerfully effective ways to breathe life into your writing and reawaken your sense of creativity and passion.

1) Let Go of Your Biggest Writing Disappointment

This week, choose to let go of you greatest writing disappointment and enjoy a vast sense of personal freedom. For this exercise you will need a 3 by 5 index card, a pen, a helium balloon and approximately 15 inches of string or ribbon. Prior to beginning this exercise sit quietly and take a few deep-cleansing breaths.

Think about the area of your writing life that causes you the most heartache or sense of failure. This could be the fact that you have reached a certain age and have yet to publish your work. Or perhaps you are most troubled by the lack of support you receive from others who urge you to concentrate your efforts into “a real job.” Maybe you feel hopelessly blocked and every time you sit down to write you hear the harsh, critical voice of your six grade English teacher whispering in your ear. Write down your life’s greatest writing heartache and stressor on your 3 by 5 index card.

Next, attach the index card to your helium balloon with the ribbon. Go outside with your balloon. Spend a few minutes thinking about how your greatest stressor has affected your writing and creativity. Gently release your balloon into the air into a wide open space. As your balloon drifts into the sky, imagine that your greatest writing disappointment is floating out of your life forever, just like this balloon. Imagine how wonderful and freeing it feels to have this problem completely removed from your life. Envision that you are giving this problem back to the universe, back to God or back to any power greater than yourself. Whenever negative feelings resurface; picture this balloon floating away in your mind's eye. This exercise is a great way to let go of anything that seems out of your control. It can be repeated as needed to release problems in any area of your life and help renew your creativity.

2) Set Your Intention Each Day

Each day upon awakening, ask yourself. “What is my intention for the day?” This is really just another way of asking yourself “What do I want for myself and what am I willing to allow into my life?” Examples of daily intentions are “Today I intend to write for at least thirty minutes or get 1500 words on paper.” or “My intention today is to connect with other writers and discover new ways to market my book”. Other examples of intention include “My intention today is to extend kindness to every person that I encounter” or “Today I will experience inner peace no matter what happens.” On many days, your intention may not be related to your writing but can powerfully effect your creativity. Most people give very little thought to their daily desires. Chaotic, overscheduled lives often cause us to live in an unconscious way. As a result, we wind up creating lives that cause dissatisfaction and are not in alignment with our deepest longings. Intention is a powerful tool that will help you manifest your writing goals by gently guiding where you place your attention every day. You may find that once you begin setting an intention each day, you feel the need to make drastic life changes related to your job, relationship status or family life. Or perhaps the only things will change is the way you view life and your newfound sense of prolific creativity. Declaring a daily intention will help you clarify your values and determine what will truly bring you happiness, both on and off the page. In addition, your awareness will shift and you will attract the people, experiences and things that you want into your life.

3) Start a Gratitude Journal

Gratitude is a powerful feeling that can help us reconnect with a sense of creativity, purpose and passion. In these troubled economic times, it’s easy to focus on the problems that surround us and experience anxiety about our future. By spending a few moments appreciating what we have each day, we can gently guide our minds into a more creative, receptive state. It is extremely helpful to maintain a journal of appreciation and thankfulness. Many people find the mere practice of keeping a gratitude journal helps them to stay focused on their personal and professional writing goals. Writing a gratitude list is also a great way to remedy a case of writer’s block. Each night before going to sleep, make a list of all the things that you are grateful for in your life. Learning to appreciate the things that you already have creates a tremendous sense of joy. As you author your nightly gratitude list, review your day and feel thankful for all the positive things that happened to you and helpful people that crossed your path. Some people find it useful to analyze the events of the day in sequential or reverse-chronological order. Remember that there is nothing too small or trivial to feel grateful about. Examples of items of on a gratitude list include “I am grateful for my son’s beautiful smile.” “I am so thankful for this bed I sleep in." or “I feel grateful that I have a car that runs and that I had the money to repair the flat tire I had today.” As you write your gratitude list, focus on the positive emotion that feeling thankful evokes within you. When you feel as if you have completed your daily gratitude list, take a few moments and see if you can think of anything else to appreciate. It is also beneficial to fall asleep reciting your gratitude list silently to yourself. After keeping your gratitude journal, you will be amazed at all the new and fresh ideas that your gratitude has awakened within your mind.

Aileen McCabe-Maucher is a licensed clinical social worker/psychotherapist and registered nurse who has helped many people find inner peace and discover their unique life purpose. Aileen has fifteen years of experience providing individual and group counseling to a diverse client population. She is a graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania, Widener University, University of Delaware, and The Gestalt Therapy Institute of Philadelphia at Bryn Mawr College. Aileen studied yoga and the chakra system at The Yoga Lifestyle Center in Paoli, Pennsylvania. She is the author of the book, The Inner Peace Diet, which was published by Penguin/ Alpha Books and released nationwide on December 2, 2008.

A free sample of Aileen's books, The Inner Peace Diet, and Find Your Life Purpose Now: Recipes for Making Your Dreams Come True can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Aileen-McCabe-Maucher/e/B003IUBRLK

Long Sentences Like a Good Wine Endure Through Time

Good Wine Endures Through Time

When did long sentences go out of style? Have we have been taught that in order to grab the attention of the reader we must do it in as few sentences as possible, because we know that the reader’s attention span is very miniscule? Instead the reader’s attention has been captured by the electronic age and it is increasingly harder to get people to read. However, in our rush to capture the reader’s attention have our sentences become less vibrant and less meaningful? Do you strive to become a better writer by writing stronger sentences?

Literary greats have endured the test of time with their sentences that are vibrant and full of meaning. These sentences tantalized our senses like an excellent wine with dinner. Have we become unable to appreciate vibrant verbs, the provocative adjectives, the descriptive adverbs that make a sentence more robust and vibrant? Have our words been reduced to simple sentences on a page? Do you carefully choose each word of your sentences and how it fits with the overall meaning of the piece?

The longer sentence, where every single word is the best that can be found and a word or phrase could not be cut from it without sacrificing something essential; is like a puzzle where every piece is need to complete the picture. Below is an example from the opening of Virginia Woolf’s essay, “On Being Ill.”

“Considering how common illness is, how tremendous the spiritual change that it brings, how astonishing, when the lights of health go down, the undiscovered countries that are then disclosed, what wastes and deserts of the soul a slight attack of influenza brings to view, what precipices and lawns sprinkled with bright flowers a little rise of temperature reveals, what ancient and obdurate oaks are uprooted in us by the act of sickness, how we go down into the pit of death and feel the water of annihilation close above our heads and wake thinking to find ourselves in the presence of the angels and harpers when we have a tooth out and come to the surface in the dentist’s arm-chair and confuse his “Rinse the Mouth —- rinse the mouth” with the greeting of the Deity stooping from the floor of Heaven to welcome us – when we think of this, as we are frequently forced to think of it, it becomes strange indeed that illness has not taken its place with love and battle and jealousy among the prime themes of literature.”

This sentence has 181 words and each word fits like a puzzle. One does not lose the meaning by the time we get to the end of it. Do not fear this sentence because of the number of words as the flow of words sounds like music. It is pleasurable to read, graceful, witty and intelligent. Do you read your sentences to others to hear how they sound? I wonder what Virginia Woolf would say if you told her that short sentences do not reflect the vigor and meaning of longer sentences, but they are in style today.

Happy Reading!

Rebecca Camarena is a virtual book tour coordinator with  Pump Up Your Book.  She is a freelance writer in Southern California with a background in Journalism and Literature.  Her published articles cover a variety of topics from health, weddings, book reviews and animals. You can find her at

Hollywood Daze
Paperback Writer,
Writing Daze,
Dogs Rule Cats Drool,

Writing is for Life

 
On days when I wonder if my works in progress are actually progressing or moribund, I cheer myself by singing a happy tune and rejoicing in the success of others who came to the writing table later in life.

And the passion and enthusiasm for writing that  keeps authors writing into their eighties, nineties and beyond, also seems to contribute to success.

 Self publishing at 97
 
Star contender this week has to be Nora Percival, self-publishing for Kindle at the age of 97, with help from author Scott Nicholson.
 
A retired editor, she was 88 when her first book, Weather of the Heart, was published to critical acclaim. The painstakingly researched memoir documents her family’s life in Russia where they lived through civil war and famine. Her father fled the Russian Revolution to safety in America but not until 1922 was he reunited with Nora and her mother in New York.
 
The sequel Silver Pages of the Lawn is the romance of her love story with her first husband, poet Herman Gund, told through their letters.
Three of her books are already available on  Amazon.
 
Editorial Memoirs
 
British literary editor Diana Athill retired in 1993 aged 75, after which she produced five books of memoirs, one of which, Somewhere Towards the End, won the Costa Award in 2009.
 
She worked with publisher André Deutsch and his authors including Philip Roth, Norman Mailer, John Updike and Mordecai Richler to name only a few.
 
Last year, aged 93, she appeared in the BBC documentary Growing Old Disgracefully. This year saw the publication of another book of short stories, Midsummer Night in the Workhouse.
 
If you haven’t anything to say...
 
One of my favourite authors, Mary Wesley was 70 when her adult novels were first published . Her books sold three million copies and included ten best sellers before she stopped writing fiction aged 84.
 
“If you haven’t anything to say,” she supposedly said, “don’t say it.”
 
I doubt if that thought ever crossed the mind of British author Barbara Cartland, the Queen of Romance. She wrote 723 romantic novels and totalled an estimated one billion sales in 36 languages. Famous for her spiky eyelashes and her love of wearing pink, she featured in the Guiness Book of Records as the world’s most prolific writer.
 
She lived to within weeks of her hundredth birthday, “still scribbling” according to a friend, and her books carry on selling in many parts of the world today. Whatever you think of her writing, the sheer ability to produce a book a fortnight, even by dictation to a secretary, is an amazing feat.
 
World’s Oldest Blogger
 
A review of the golden authors past and present of the publishing world would not be complete without a mention of the world’s oldest blogger Bernando LaPallo from Arizona. Now 110, his latest blog post was published on his birthday in August. He is author of Age Less and Live More and is reported to be working on his second book.

Secrets of Success

All these authors have taken publicity in their stride and played to their unique strengths. The initial marketing blurb may have promoted them on account of the late blossoming of their careers, but they also worked hard at connecting with their readers be it through public appearances, radio and television appearances, blogging and/or belonging to social networking sites.

Of course not all of us can have the advantages of Barbara Cartland who also happened to be the mother of Princess Diana's stepmother.


But we can pay heed to the best lesson of all.

Never Give Up.

 

 Read the article that inspired this post:

Nora Percival: Self-Publishing at Age 97

* * * * *

Anne Duguid is a senior content editor at MuseItUp Publishing. She blogs at Slow and Steady Writers and at the moment is passionate about creating a new Joomla! website. The WIP? A romantic suspense series.

10 things I've learned in one month of marketing my book

This is my first post for "Writers On The Move" and I am so thrilled that I was invited to contribute to this blog. I am sharing one of my more popular posts from last month. I have learned that indie writers are always looking for marketing tips. If you see anything useful please take it and good luck. And if you know any helpful marketing tips; please leave a comment share with other struggling indie writers. I hope you enjoy.

It's my one month anniversary. I began this blog a little over one months ago; September 17 to be exact. I feel like a whiny girlfriend wanting to celebrate every little milestone. But I think it's important to note any noticeable achievements I've made in regards to my marketing plan so all of us small indie authors/publishers have at best a road map on what to expect when marketing our books.

So, here we go and I'll do it like David Letterman, just probably not as funny. Note: this information is assuming you already have your book published and available to the public.

10. Keep a journal. Its important to have some documentation for reference of your daily activities so you can better keep track of what you're doing. Mine is this blog.

9.Connect with other writers for moral support. It's important to surround yourself with positive people, like-minded artsy people; not folks that are going to tell you to get over it and try to convince you that what you're doing is just a pipe dream. I don't tell "regular" people my business because "regular" people are buzzkills. I don't even share too much of what I'm doing with my own husband because he's not an artist and doesn't get it. "Regular" people don't share my passion for writing, it's all dollars and cents to them and the last thing I wanna hear is, "so, how many books did you sell?" or "Is there any money in that?" Ughhh, get the hell away from me dude. So, I only talk about this to fellow writers.

8. "Big" magazines are willing to negotiate. Don't be afraid to contact an ad rep. I Googled, the top ten teen magazines and contacted the kind folks over at Girl's Life magazine. My hands shook the whole time wondering if they would even talk to a small fry like me. But, not only did they talk to me, they were willing to throw in a lot of extra sweeteners for my business; more than they advertised online. They want your business so they may not be as out of reach as one might think. I'm considering advertising with them the first of the year or early spring.

7. Be prepared for the giveaway. I purchased 10 books this month for giveaways. To date I have given away 8 books with two left to go. For me 10 books a month is manageable. Maybe for someone else, it's 5 books a month or 20 book. And don't forget to budget for postage. Ask for the book rate at the Post Office, it'll take 7-10 days to get to the winner instead of 3-5 days but its way cheaper than First Class.

6.Connect with book bloggers in your genre. This is crucial. Find a blog directory in your particular genre and start working your way down the list. I made it my job to send out 10 emails a day asking YA bloggers if I could participate in a giveaway, interview or guest post in exchange for a review of my book. Out of 10 emails I'd might get one response. Some of them didn't have time for reviews but agreed to a giveaway. Book bloggers need giveaways to maintain their site. It's a two way street, they need the giveaway and we need the exposure. I would have at least one giveaway going per week.

5.Get a website and book trailer. It's a no brainier. I have a website for the book series but not a personal author's website. There are plenty of do-it-yourself sites where you pick a template and just add photos and information. The one I have cost only $9.99 per month and is super easy to use. If it's possible try to create a book trailer and place it on Youtube. I created my own trailer using stock footage. And don't forget to connect it to all of your social media as well.

4.Social media is a must. I'm not a fan but its a must. I got a Twitter account for myself and a separate one for the book. Don't forget a Facebook "Like" page for the book and make sure to connect everything to your website, your e-mail, your book trailer, your FB account and the Twitter account.

3. Just go ahead and pay for a Facebook ad. A Facebook ad is inexpensive, simple and easy to create, just make sure you have an attractive ad and able to sell it in about 50 words or less. If you've ever had to create a classified ad it's similar to that. I went through a couple of ads before settling on the one I'm using now. You can connect your FB ad to either your website or your "Like" page. Pay attention to the demographics as well. Mine were United State, ages 14-18, male and females interested in literature and reading. They have demographic choices down to the zip code and personal hobbies and activities. The bids for cost per click is negotiable and can be changed at your discretion as long as it falls within the "bid range". On the weekends where user activity was high, I paid $0.40 per click but on for example a Tuesday where user activity was low, I only paid $0.19 per click. You're allowed to set your own budget, dates and even time of day the users will see your ad. Super useful for exposure, not sales. To date with a two week ad; over 70,000 people have seen my ad at least 3 times. The first week I sent the ad directly to my website and the second week I sent my ad directly to the "Like" page. I prefer the "Like" page because I know exactly who's interested in my book and I can vet them later as potential customers. I've had 4 sales as a direct result from my FB ad. So, again, its good for exposure, not sales.

2. Goodreads.com is another must. I didn't know about Goodreads.com until I received my first review from one of the bloggers. It's like FB but for bookworms. You can create an Authors Page where you can upload your books, write reviews, find friends, join groups, upload your blog, excerpts from your book, participate in giveaways for your book, and of course connect to your FB and twitter account. I spend a good part of my day managing my Authors Page. the resources are endless.

1.Be productive everyday to keep yourself inspired and focused. Hey, guys if you like this; sign up and take the one year journey with me. http://vicihoward.blogspot.com or http://www.thechickfriendsrules.com