The Word Cloud

You’d think writing was writing, wouldn’t you?

Seems not.

I’ve been pondering the differences and similarities and am in no way an expert.

I’d be interested in your views.

There are fiction agents and publishers, and non-fiction agents and publishers.

The route to each of them differs.

You may not even need an agent for non-fic, whereas it appears mandatory for fiction.

Non-fic books are often sold on the basis of a proposal, rather than a finished article; or indeed commissioned. This is less common in fiction, unless you count those lovely/scary ‘2-book deals’ where the second is a twinkle in its author’s eye.

Do writers need to be one or the other?

While in non-fiction, you have the facts proscribed to some extent, the way you write them, the facts you choose to include and the slant – are all at the whim of the author; who can make the subject live or die.

Unless you’re writing an instruction manual for constructing a back-garden space rocket, your own flair will permeate it. Heavens, you could even write that in an entertaining way, couldn’t you? I once wrote a programming manual. I thought it was really funny (and in case you’re wondering, it became the company standard for years).

I’ve long thought that absolutely anything can be made interesting, if told/taught in an engaging way, even a till receipt. OK, maybe not the physics of pulleys and levers, but you know what I mean.

Autobiography or memoir can be dirge or delight, it’s still all about the story, the journey.

Even learning how to knit a battleship can be intriguing. It’s all in the telling, surely?

In fiction, while the plot is up to you, there is usually a fair amount of research required; there are facts to be fitted into the fiction: how does the Japanese whaling industry work? How long does it take for arsenic to effect a demise? When did music CDs replace vinyl? Where exactly is Moldova?

I can’t think of a good novel I’ve ever read, that didn’t teach me something too. Not just about the ‘human condition’, but about concrete things, like, er, concrete. Or uranium mining in the 30s, or what kings were like in the middle ages, or the best way to catch a crab.

So I’m asking. Is the distinction between fiction and non-fiction valid? Or more of a blurry line? Perhaps there isn’t a distinction at the molecular level. Will they merge? Are they merging? I opine that they are, if you consider the turgid textbooks on my father’s shelf as opposed to the zingy textbooks on mine.

Is one the poor relation of the other? How so? Do we have to jump into one camp or another and hang a label around our necks? What do you think?

I think the only distinction is, as you pointed out, the route to getting published. In the course I have just finished, there was a life writing section and although the material was true life, the 'rules' of fiction came into play just as much as if I'd been writing a short story.

You know how much everyone loves your bird diary, and that is not just because of Woody, yes he is the most charming protagonist in a long time, but put the story into different hands and I wonder if the charm and appeal of the story would still be there. You have a way of writing that wires straight through to the heart. Your chicken stories prior to Woody were the same, full of charm and appeal and a delight to read. I think you write your animal stories as you would fiction, with the animals taking the character's place. That's what makes them so readable. So I'd say just write as you do now, you will capture every heart.

This query was generated by a comment from someone who'd read my non-fiction, who said, 'but you're really a writer of fiction' and I wondered if that were true and what the implications were.
So thank you Weens, I agree - the same skills come into play but you still need to slot yourself into a category - perhaps it's like a genre?
And how did you know that much of my fiction has animals as full characters? I don't see the empirical species difference really, never have.

Interesting to read, as I am now toying with the non-fiction genre, and appropriately enough CW, a cup cakes based idead! I am interested in just because it's a new challenge; having never really written something like it before, it will be interesting to try. Will have to alter the 'colourful' langusge I have been using up untill now though!

Thanks, Tenacity. I saw something about your idea earlier; I think the alcoholic cupcake is a winner! Over the last year, I've been making liqueurs and they'd sit so happily in cupcakes. In fact, I know that they do! I blogged it but deleted it from the Cloud in an uncharacteristic housekeeping frenzy.
I wouldn't necessarily tone down your language? Can't non-fic be as expressive as the other sort?
Good luck with that.

Oh, and Weens - I don't have animals in all my fiction, but when I do, I try to make sure it's as a real and equal character, as I would with any human, walk-on part or not.

I kind of meant removing the anlgo saxon which I am using a lot of at the moment, f'words and so forth, maybe not ideal in a cupcake book! :)