Fiction vs. Nonfiction - What's the Difference?

In my writer's group, we're a diverse bunch. There are literary fiction novelists, flash fiction scribes, essayists, poets, memoirists, writers for children, and international writers. The only way we're able to critique each other's work is by the fact that we understand and respect the rules and guidelines of each particular genre.

This got me thinking. What if my blog readers wanted to join a diverse writer's group? (One that doesn't say in the description, "We're a group of YA novelists helping each other on the way to publication", not that there's anything wrong with that. In fact, if you're a YA novelist, you should join them. However, if that's not readily available around you, check out a diverse group, they're awesome.)

So, long story short, we're going to talk about the main difference between Fiction and Nonfiction.

This is great if you're critiquing the work of others, if you're a nonfiction writer with a novel idea, or a fiction writer ready to tackle the scientific explanation of worm holes.

What is the main difference between Fiction and Nonfiction?

Fiction poses questions, whereas nonfiction answers questions.

Yes, it really is that simple.

Think back to your high school days with all those giant textbooks. They often included bold headers throughout the chapter saying something like:

Why is the sky blue?

How does Carver embody minimalist style?

What is an integer? 

The paragraphs of text that followed those headers would answer the question and explain why the answer was that way.

However, this is not the case in fiction. In fiction, whether it's a short story, novella or novel, the best writers simply present us with a question.

Harper Lee posed the question of how innocence is destroyed, as well as the impacts of racism.

F. Scott Fitzgerald posed what facilitates the decline of the "American Dream".

Mary Shelley posed the question of what are the tolls in the pursuit of knowledge.

Being a fiction writer means that through your work, you uncover a question for the reader to ponder and create their own answers for. A nonfiction writer has the question predefined and uses their writing to provide answers for that problem.

It's the ultimate boiling down of the term, show don't tell, to a thematic level.


(Special Note: Memoir and other creative nonfiction [think David Sedaris and Elizabeth Gilbert] has shifted more to a fiction "pose the question, don't answer it" mentality in this post-modern time. So, if you're writing a memoir that reads like fiction, but is merely recounting factual events, please follow the thematic guidelines for fiction writing. It'll be so much more successful.)