Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively based on historical, scientific, and empirical information. However, some non-fiction ranges into more subjective territory, including sincerely held opinions on real-world topics.

Often referring specifically to prose writing, non-fiction is one of the two fundamental approaches to story and storytelling, in contrast to narrative fiction, which is largely populated by imaginary characters and events. Non-fiction writers can show the reasons and consequences of events, they can compare, contrast, classify, categorise and summarise information, put the facts in a logical or chronological order, infer and reach conclusions about facts, etc. as Virginia Woolf said: "if we think of truth as something of granite-like solidity and of personality as something of rainbow-like intangibility and reflect that the aim of biography is to weld these two into one seamless whole, we shall admit that the problem is a stiff one and that we need not wonder if biographers, for the most part failed to solve it."

Including information that the author knows to be untrue within such works is usually regarded as dishonest. Still, certain kinds of written works can legitimately be either fiction or non-fiction, such as journals of self-expression, letters, magazine articles, and other expressions of imagination. Though they are mostly either one or the other, a blend of both is also possible. Some fiction may include non-fictional elements; semi-fiction is fiction implementing a great deal of non-fiction, (such as a fictional description based on a true story). Some non-fiction may include elements of unverified supposition, deduction, or imagination for the purpose of smoothing out a narrative, but the inclusion of open falsehoods would discredit it as a work of non-fiction. The publishing and bookselling businesses sometimes use the term "creative nonfiction" to distinguish works with a more literary or intellectual bent, as opposed to the bulk of non-fiction subjects.

Types

Based on the author's intention or the purpose of the content, the main genres of non-fiction are instructional, explanatory, discussion-based, report-based (non-chronological), opinion-based (persuasive) and relating (chronological recounting) non-fiction. Non-fictional works of these different genres can be created with the help of a range of structures or formats such as:

  • Academic texts, including scholarly papers, scientific papers, monographs, scientific journals, treatises, edited volumes, and conference proceedings.
  • History books that document and discuss events that have taken place.
  • Life writings, which include autobiographies, biographies, confessions, diaries, logs, memoirs, epistles, letters, postcards, letter collections, epitaphs, and obituaries.
  • Literary criticism (including book reports and book reviews), art criticism, and film criticism.
  • News stories, editorials, letters to the editor, opinion pieces, manifestos, notices (announcements), documentary films, and factual television.
  • Persuasive writing (apologias and polemics), essays and essay collections, and promotional writing (including brochures, pamphlets, press releases, advertorials).
  • Reference works, which include almanacs, encyclopaedias, atlases, bibliographies, chronicles, consumer reports, dictionaries, thesauri, business or telephone directories, handbooks, yearbooks, and books of quotations.
  • Self-help books, popular science books, blogs, presentations, orations, and sayings.

See also

  • Documentary practice
  • List of writing genres
  • :Category:Non-fiction literary awards

References

  • Nonfiction – overview at Britannica