Fiction vs Non-Fiction

[ApprenticeApril]

Usually when I write my stories, I use fantasies or actual encounters as an inspiration, and then go from there.
But I would really like to try just re-capping an actual encounter. Exactly what happened, exactly how it felt.
I don't currently have any stories posted here, and I was considering using those as one of my first submissions. - I'm too shy about my own creativity to start with any of the fiction. -
But, does it need to go in non-fiction, or can I just put it in the appropriate category? If it's not in non-fiction, do I need to mention (in a forward or something) that it is a re-cap, or should I let them assume it's a fiction piece?
Any advice is appreciated!

 

[starrkers]

There isn't a non-fic tion category here.

From what I've seen, any story that starts out "This is a true story..." will get hammered. People don't care if it's real or not. What matters is that it's a good tale or that it gets them off (depending on who's reading).

Just write it up like any other story and submit in whatever category seems most appropriate. (Word of warning - unless you have very thick skin, avoid the Loving Wives category - the readers are vicious!).

 

[sr71plt]

As Starrkers notes, there's no nonfiction category here. For good reason. You then start talking about libel, and when you combine "libel" with "porn," you're talking about serious legal risks and ramifications.

 

[ApprenticeApril]

Aaahh, I just went back and looked and realized it said non-erotic.
Got a little confused. It had been awhile since I ventured out of my favorite little categories.
*think before posting*

 

[ApprenticeApril]

So, and I know every reader review is different, why would people hammer so much if you start with saying it's true? Just out of curiosity.

 

[English Lady]

So, and I know every reader review is different, why would people hammer so much if you start with saying it's true? Just out of curiosity.

People don't believe it, they think it's a gimmick to pull you into the story, simple as that.

 

[ApprenticeApril]

gotcha

 

[oggbashan]

So, and I know every reader review is different, why would people hammer so much if you start with saying it's true? Just out of curiosity.

Stories that start "This is a true story" usually aren't, or if they are, are written so badly you wouldn't read more than the first paragraph. Writing a true story is more difficult than writing fiction.

Truth may be stranger than fiction but fiction can be truth presented in a more acceptable way.

Fiction can alter timescales, sequence of events, change the ending, introduce additional twists and be written to entertain.

Even truth can benefit from selection and omission. For example Bill Bryson's travel books only include the boring bits if they entertain. He has unfortunate experiences with public transport, with meals, with hotels. He doesn't generally write about the services that were adequate and met his needs at a reasonable cost. If the prices were unreasonable, the service was awful, the weather was bad - they're in his books.

Some people can write good second person stories: "You did this, you did that..." but the second person viewpoint is not easy to write in an accessible way. You can try. I have. But first person "I did this" or third "She did that" are more convincing for an amateur writer.

Og

 

[gauchecritic]

If you write it first person then quite a few readers will simply assume that it's true. Assuming you are of the female persuasion you're going to get quite a bit of feedback, most of it suggestive, some of it incredulous and some scathing, some, but not much, will actually be about the writing rather than the story/characters.

The last ones are those you should treasure whatever their content.

 

[CharleyH]

Usually when I write my stories, I use fantasies or actual encounters as an inspiration, and then go from there.
But I would really like to try just re-capping an actual encounter. Exactly what happened, exactly how it felt.
I don't currently have any stories posted here, and I was considering using those as one of my first submissions. - I'm too shy about my own creativity to start with any of the fiction. -
But, does it need to go in non-fiction, or can I just put it in the appropriate category? If it's not in non-fiction, do I need to mention (in a forward or something) that it is a re-cap, or should I let them assume it's a fiction piece?
Any advice is appreciated!

Just a small note called DUH. There are non-fiction categories on Lit and they are normally called articles or reviews. DUH! NON-FICTION.

 

[sr71plt]

If you write it first person then quite a few readers will simply assume that it's true. Assuming you are of the female persuasion you're going to get quite a bit of feedback, most of it suggestive, some of it incredulous and some scathing, some, but not much, will actually be about the writing rather than the story/characters.

The last ones are those you should treasure whatever their content.

*laughs* I was just thinking that. I get all sorts of e-mail on some of my first-person stories, assuming a particular one was a "true story" (some of them are, actually) and wanting to connect on that. As I write on some fetishes that don't really attract me personally at all, I get some "interesting" e-mailed offers. I wouldn't even think of starting any of them off with "This is a true story," however.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I've written a lot of 'true stories'-- but I would never label them as such. Readers are funny critters-- they assume it really happened, unless you tell them it did-- and then they figure you're lying.

Plus, unvarnished real-life episodes tend to not have a plot, or theme, or any of the things that makes fiction so very satisfying to read. For the sake of the reader, you'll want to massage and tweak, and pull the meat out of the happenings-- make it into a story. Otherwise, it's simply a journal entry.

 

[hmmnmm]

but if you can find or throw in a glitch of an obstacle or an element of conflict in or pull it from that simple journal entry... isn't life itself defined by a need to overcome or to advance, in some way, even a minimal extent? So a 'non-fictional' journal entry could springboard into something not necessarily factual but true nonetheless, which would technically make it fiction, which again reminds me of the necessary evils of categories. Go ye and blur!

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

In reality, every writer on Lit who has posted 20 plus stories can point to at least one of them and say, "That scene actually (or was something very like) happened. I doubt you can help it. But the story is still fiction.

 

[Stella_Omega]

but if you can find or throw in a glitch of an obstacle or an element of conflict in or pull it from that simple journal entry... isn't life itself defined by a need to overcome or to advance, in some way, even a minimal extent? So a 'non-fictional' journal entry could springboard into something not necessarily factual but true nonetheless, which would technically make it fiction, which again reminds me of the necessary evils of categories. Go ye and blur!

"You are," she said fondly, "such a dork."

 

[hmmnmm]

"You are," she said fondly, "such a dork."

creative non-fiction