Fiction

Fiction is any story made up by an author. It is a creation of the author's imagination.^[1] It is not based strictly on history or facts.^[2][3]

The opposite of fiction is non-fiction, writing that deals with facts and true events. Often in a library, part of the library is for fiction books and another part of the library is for non-fiction.

The word fiction comes from the Latin word fictum, which means "created". This is a good way to remember what fiction is: if it has been created or made up by somebody, it is fiction. Fiction can be written or told, or acted on stage, in a movie, on television or radio. Usually the purpose of fiction is to entertain.

However, the dividing line is not always so clear. Fiction with real people or events in it is called historical fiction, because it is based on things that happened in history. This type of fiction is written so that we can imagine and understand what it was like when those people were alive. Reality can be presented through creative writing, and imagination can open the reader's mind to significant thoughts about the real world.

1. ↑ fiction. Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster. 2015.
2. ↑ William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman A Handbook to Literature. 7th ed, New York: Prentice Hall, 1990, p. 212.
3. ↑ "Literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describes imaginary events and people". Definition of 'fiction' Archived 2022-08-27 at the Wayback Machine. Oxford English Dictionaries (online). Oxford University Press. 2015.