On Creative Nonfiction

[kurrginatorX]

I think its safe to say that while there are some who come to Literotica to write the kind of fiction that just won't get published anywhere else, there are others who may mask their sexcapades as works of fiction. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, and although it is something I never considered doing myself, I have received enough private emails from readers who ask if this is, indeed, what I do.

**Circumstance is revealed without revealing the identity of the solicitor**

I have been asked if the character Sean in He Who Laughs Last is me and if the story is mine, just as I have been asked if the stories of incest I have written are my own, veiled as fiction. These people then go on to tell me of their own personal experiences, some of which closely mirror those portrayed in a particular story of mine. There was one who believed that Taboo: Generations was my manifesto because "only someone who has shared that kind of love with his aunt and/or his mother could write about it so beautifully." However, what I write is not creative nonfiction, but fiction, plain and simple.

Stephen King once said, "It is our jobs as writers of fiction to tell lies and make everyone believe those lies," so if I am able to tap into a real, emotional event from my life and use it as fodder that helps to better convey the emotion of one of my fictional characters, then I have met that end. If I can make you laugh, then it is because that event made me laugh. If I can make you cry, it is because that event made me cry. Not the event portrayed in the story, but the event from which I draw my inspiration.

It would be remiss of me to not state that my writing is semi-autographical, just not to any great degree. It may be something as simple as the waffle, egg, and bacon breakfast that Jason ate in Taboo: Generations, or it may be playing Final Fantasy IV and watching The Walking Dead in Rx for Sex. There will always be a piece of me that finds its way into one of my stories, but in the end, they are just works of fiction.

Does Literotica need a Creative Nonfiction category? Should authors who wish to expose their truths place disclaimers before each of their stories? In the end, I think we all are pretty free to do as we wish here, and that includes writing what we desire and accepting what we read as fictive or non-fictive. All that really matters is that we keep reading and writing.

 

[HisArpy]

I believe that every author writes himself into his work. He does it in bits and pieces of things he's experienced or observed. Our works are our fantasies come to reality and, as such, have to include ourselves in there somewhere.

There are authors here who do write their life story. Melissababy's "my rise and fall" is an example of where she fictionalized the events of her life and published it here on Lit. That's good on several points and shows that people can write their own story and be accepted for it.

For and example of myself; I like women's hair. Long hair, short hair, medium length, it's all good. So I tend to write those things into my stories. Barber shop visits, page-boy hairstyles, long raven tresses, and so on. Those are bits of me which are somewhere in every story I've ever written. Hair, specifically, may not be in every story, but those bits are there in other forms because I take from myself to give my characters enough depth to feel like they have life.

I have had comments on stories I've written where people have asked "what was it like to grow up like that?" or "I wish I could have grown up like you did." It's hard to tell them it's fiction and not real. They WISH it was so much that in their minds, it is.

That tells me I did my job as a writer.

 

[sr71plt]

I have such a book out, and most of what's in it can be found in standalone story versions here at Literotica. I once provided a road map on the order of the stories on my Lit. profile, but I dropped that some time ago.

https://dwtr67e3ikfml.cloudfront.net/bookCovers/5a407ecfd1664a73d86239ed3a43ed431df8af7e-thumb

 

[NotWise]

I think the idea that a story might be true is a turn-on for some readers. It comes up in comments now and then, even for stories that are highly unlikely to be true.

 

[yukonnights]

I think the idea that a story might be true is a turn-on for some readers. It comes up in comments now and then, even for stories that are highly unlikely to be true.

I think this says it ^^^. As we've all learned; people come in every flavor imaginable and no doubt some have an inner need to believe that what they are reading and aroused by is a real possibility outside of the story.

I recall getting a comment once congratulating me and Mrs. Yukon for the wonderful life we had with our male best friend. I took it as a compliment thinking what I wrote must be somewhat convincing. But as others have said; everything I write is a mix of fantasy and a little reality.

As to the OP's question; I doubt a separate category is likely, but maybe an introductory remark would be an option if one wants to be known for 'Creative Non-Fiction'.

 

[kurrginatorX]

That tells me I did my job as a writer.

Everything you wrote up to this point was fair and true, but then you had to end it with

"I don't particularly care if you don't like it."

Why? Why include a comment such as this? Your entire message was positive in every way, yet you chose to end it negatively, which detracts from the message itself. I'm beginning to think that some people here are just looking to invite an argument.

 

[sr71plt]

Everything you wrote up to this point was fair and true, but then you had to end it with

"I don't particularly care if you don't like it."

Why? Why include a comment such as this? Your entire message was positive in every way, yet you chose to end it negatively, which detracts from the message itself. I'm beginning to think that some people here are just looking to invite an argument.

That's how all of HisArpy's posts end. That's the signature line, not part of the specific post content.

 

[HisArpy]

Everything you wrote up to this point was fair and true, but then you had to end it with

"I don't particularly care if you don't like it."

Why? Why include a comment such as this? Your entire message was positive in every way, yet you chose to end it negatively, which detracts from the message itself. I'm beginning to think that some people here are just looking to invite an argument.

That line is my signature line. Some people use famous quotes, others use images, others use links to various things they enjoy. It has no relationship to the message in the post. If you look, you'll see it's separated by a solid black line. Everything below that line is the signature - which is nothing more than a personal expression of the members about themselves.

You can turn them off so you won't see all the junk most people stuffed into theirs. Or be offended by those words I have in mine.

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't think it would be necessary or all that useful from the reader's point of view to create a whole new category for these stories. The guiding interest of the reader likely will be, primarily, the subject matter of the story and not whether it is true or not.

The better way to identify the story as nonfiction to readers would be to do so through the use of a brief introduction and through the use of the word "nonfiction" as a tag.

 

[Hypoxia]

I don't think it would be necessary or all that useful from the reader's point of view to create a whole new category for these stories. The guiding interest of the reader likely will be, primarily, the subject matter of the story and not whether it is true or not.

The better way to identify the story as nonfiction to readers would be to do so through the use of a brief introduction and through the use of the word "nonfiction" as a tag.

Quite. But recall that Bram Stoker's DRACULA, Michael Crichton's EATERS OF THE DEAD, and many more fictive tales are presented internally as true accounts. Tagging as #nonfiction allows outrageous lies. But omit the 15-inch cocks. Usually.

Really, how are readers to know if a #nonfiction tag is true? I'll admit some of my pieces here include straight reporting, but I won't say which, and I'd likely not be believed. Reality often *IS* weirder than what we can invent.

 

[sr71plt]

Really, how are readers to know if a #nonfiction tag is true? I'll admit some of my pieces here include straight reporting, but I won't say which, and I'd likely not be believed. Reality often *IS* weirder than what we can invent.

Ain't that the truth? I'm always amused when comments say something in one of my stories is unbelievable--when that was exactly the part that actually happened and set off the inspiration for the story woven around it.

 

[SimonDoom]

Quite. But recall that Bram Stoker's DRACULA, Michael Crichton's EATERS OF THE DEAD, and many more fictive tales are presented internally as true accounts. Tagging as #nonfiction allows outrageous lies. But omit the 15-inch cocks. Usually.

Really, how are readers to know if a #nonfiction tag is true? I'll admit some of my pieces here include straight reporting, but I won't say which, and I'd likely not be believed. Reality often *IS* weirder than what we can invent.

I don't think they need to know. If they believe it's real, it may be more entertaining to them.

For instance the movie Fargo begins with written text on the screen saying "This is a true story." But it's not true. The Coen brothers thought it would add something to the movie to present it that way.