What Is the Difference Between Fiction and Nonfiction?

How to use short story to take your reader on an adventure no matter what genre you write.

How to use short story to take your reader on an adventure no matter what genre you write.

I’m in love with reading. It’s the reason I write.

My mother taught me to read before I started Kindergarten. She would take me to the library weekly. Mama allowed me to read whatever I wanted within reason. I read Gone With The Wind at age seven.

I remember sitting in my mother’s deep walk-in closet with a flashlight. I sat on this old-timey sewing machine at the very back of her closet that had a rocking footplate to operate it instead of a motor. I loved disappearing into my cave to read for as long as I could until mama started looking for me.

Reading gave me freedom and taught me many things. Having no siblings, books were the friend I spent most of my time with since I was a child. I was never bored. It was the beginning of my lifelong love affair with stories and words, especially fiction.

I traveled the world. I learned about life and love. I had great adventures.

What is the difference between fiction and other types of story?

The thing that makes fiction, fiction, is that it’s made up. It is not real. Life elements, principles, and situations can all be used to tell the story and presented as reality, but it is still all made up.

For one example, you see this in adult fairy tales and fables. Over the last five years, the retelling of fairy tales for adults has been a fad, and still extremely popular. The author uses real-life to present a life lesson or moral delivered as an entertaining story or a vehicle to capture real life in an immersive way, but it is all fictional. The twist is the use of modern times and conventions.

Here are some of my favorite fictional short reads:

• A favorite short story duo, Heroes Wanted by Katharina Gerlach.
• Short Stories: A favorite fairy-tale retelling, In this series, The King’s Mechanic, is one of my favorites, but all retellings are great fun.
• Kindle Short Reads on Amazon is a place to find popular short stories to read.

Story form through the character point of view in nonfiction.

Nonfiction is facts and often includes references. In the story form, nonfiction includes essays, memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies. These story forms are often told in the storytelling format you find in fiction.

The difference is, these stories are based on actual events even though some facts may be exaggerated for story effect and entertainment. It is possible to present reality as a short story.

What is a short story?

It is a small slice of a character’s life, a moment in time, an incident.

The limited word counts limits word choice, so there is no room for a lot of embellishment, character building, or description. You must pick only one or two active verbs and adjectives to create your impressions.

The trick is turning it into a tale that entertains with the other points woven in, so it flows like a story told from a character point of view. You have a character, a setting, and a conflict in which the character must use their own wits and resources to escape or avoid. It will have a beginning, middle, and end.

The thing to remember is that a personal essay or an informative blog post is not a short story.

You are speaking in your own voice, not the characters. Yes, you are telling a story to capture your reader, but it is not presented from a character point of view. You are telling it as if you are speaking directly to your audience.

Whether you are telling a fictional or nonfictional story many of the elements, viewpoints, conflict, and story arcs all work the same. Learning to tell a good fictional story can also help you tell a better nonfiction story.

A short story tells a story that hooks your reader, engages them, takes them on a journey, away from the here and now into the story world.

Use story format to pull your reader into the story world. Show the character arc whether it’s you or a fictional character, describe your setting, use the conflict to move your story forward to its ending.

Invite the reader on an adventure that takes them away from their mundane world.

A few nonfiction short stories I have enjoyed. (These are not affiliate links.)

• The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told by Mark Paul based on true historical events.
• Brady Silverwood 9 For Nine, present in first person. He tells the story of how running saved him.
• The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. This is nonfiction and a personal manifesto.
• A memoir told in first person, a novel. The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom. This is not a short story, but compelling in the reading.
• Memoirs of a Geisha, a novel. This one was made into a movie. It is not a short story, but it is a memoir in story form.

Here are my tips to help improve your short stories.

Juneta Key is the fiction columnist and editor of The Ninja Writers Pub. She manages accountability for Ninja Writers LLC. She founded and hosts the Write-In Saloons. She offers coaching in story development, short story, world building, and Scrivener, Scapple-mind mapping your ideas via Writer’s Gambit Fiction Consultations. Juneta is an admin and moderator for Insecure Writer’s Support Group, (IWSG) Facebook & Goodreads Book Club. She’s co-founder of Storytime Quarterly Blog Hop, and co-owner of Stormdance Publications which publishes themed anthologies. Her WIP is Ghost Pirate, a space opera, from the Starlight Galaxy series.