For many writers, it’s very easy to differentiate between a fiction and non-fiction work, unlike with many readers. That’s because writers are familiar with the structures of the two. It’s no surprise that you will get so many readers having books that they cannot describe clearly, whether fiction or nonfiction.
One of them is based on research, the other on the creativity and imagination of the writer. The difference between the two can sometimes be blurred as they often intersect. Here are the differences between nonfiction and fiction literature.
Difference based on the meaning
One of the basic differences is that fiction is not true while non-fiction is true. With non-fiction literature, there are real characters, real events, and real writing. Most of this kind of writing is not highly creative as you have to show the readers the sense that you are trying to drive.
What makes it hard for a lot of creativity to be infused in non-fiction literature work is that you will be arguing with facts. The only thing that can set you apart in non-fiction literature is the command of language. Can you communicate effectively without errors?
On the other hand, fiction is literature work mostly based on imagination. These are just events, supernatural beings, and imaginary things that do not exist. The writers can adjust them to their best level possible.
References
Fiction is mainly a work that you are creating out of imagination. That means you haven’t copied anyone’s work. It’s all about your efforts, command of the language, and style. The success of your work depends on how interesting the fiction work is. In this case, no referencing is required as you have not copied anyone’s ideas.
With non-fiction, here, you are presenting ideas and facts that are based on research. In this case, you will need to add references. This includes quotes from famous books or other research materials that you have used. As a result, the readers can afterward research the references you have used to learn more.
This will help them understand the motive behind the quotes you have included in the non-fiction work. In most cases, colleges deal with non-fiction writing. As a student, you need to prove that you can research and present your ideas effectively. That’s why you need to ensure that you research a quality essay paper for the assignment issued. You can also visit the database of literature essay samples available on Samplius to maintain high education status. Writing tool is also useful for checking plagiarism, grammar errors, and essay structure.
Target audience
Fiction is more elaborate. The writer can, along with their imagination, limitlessly. They need to make sure the story makes sense and has some elements that the readers can easily connect with. That’s why most of the characters in the fiction have supernatural characteristics that are not possible with human capabilities. The target audience for the fiction work is mostly teenagers.
On the other hand, non-fiction is straightforward. That means the scope for the imagination is limited, and it’s a reallocation of facts. It’s usually written for educational purposes to show students the real image of society. The target audience here is who the book is written for. That means that non-fiction writers need to be conversant with what they are writing because it’s used not mainly for entertainment but educating.
Interpretation
In fiction, you can draw as many conclusions as you want based on your level of understanding. That’s because it’s a piece of work where the writer is just expressing opinions not based on facts but actions. You can use the literal terminology to interpret and consider how the other elements work together to add the themes being displayed in the work. Is the story good or engaging? How is the action progress in work?
For non-fiction, the interpretation is straightforward. Here, you must determine the piece of writing the main idea and explain how key details support it. There is a lot of referencing with non-fiction writing. Various elements are used to interpret a non-fiction work, including narration, character, imagery, setting, dialogue, and point of view.
Conclusion
In simple terms, fiction is only possible with imagination, while non-fiction is based on facts. With fiction, you cannot make proper inferences to the actions being performed in the story, but in non-fiction, you can. You can even criticize the actions of various characters, which is impossible with fiction. An attempt to criticize fiction will render the rest of the story useless.
Author’s Bio
Robert Griffith is in love with writing and that is somehow an understatement. The kind of passion he has for writing and editing blogs and academic papers is simply huge. He has crafted thousands of essays and blogs in his career and almost each of them has received praises from every corner.