I wrote a book on the Bosnian war based on primary accounts and what little I could dig up on the subject based on the limited resources for this particular POV. I made up the characters, but the events themselves are true. Does that make my book narrative non-fiction? Or because all the characters are made up and the story itself is fiction-even though the events and most of the eyewitness stuff I put in are true..is it commercial fiction anyway? Can someone help me? Please?
Question about genre
- Thread starter Carleree
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I wish I could. I struggle with this stuff. Sure though someone else will come by and offer some thoughts.
Would it just be a novel? Contemporary, I mean - if you're not using actual people...
I don't know much about this sort of thing, but my guess would be don't stress too much. Someone will know. You just keep writing....
I don't know much about this sort of thing, but my guess would be don't stress too much. Someone will know. You just keep writing....
As I understand it...
you have written a novel. But this is a UK/Commonwealth interpretation.
According to that definition your work is fiction because you have created characters and used the actual events as the setting and plot line. This is what many historical fiction writers do.
you have written a novel. But this is a UK/Commonwealth interpretation.
According to that definition your work is fiction because you have created characters and used the actual events as the setting and plot line. This is what many historical fiction writers do.
Okay-the events are verifiable, the observations and thoughts are based on primary sources, and the characters are composites of real people. Which means, IMO, that 95% of the book is true. I spent 8 years researching the subject. By Wikipedia's definition (and I realize that Wikipedia is not gospel) those things make the book narrative non-fiction. But I can deal with it being a historical novel if that is what it is. But then how do I let agents know that the majority of it is fact?
Basically, good historical fiction does exactly what you've done - uses real events and real people but with fictional main characters. But, since you're talking about the Bosnian War, I wouldn't quite call it historical. Maybe say something like - fact based account with fictional characters. And I wouldn't worry about classifying it as historical or contemporary or ... just tell them what you have and let them make the decision how to market it if it gets to that point (and good luck to you!) Puma
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I don't write narrative non-fiction, but as a reader, I find it has a different feel than fiction. Narrative non-fiction feels more external, focusing more on the events than the emotions, the actions than the reactions. It's not just about the amount of research completed or included in the book, as many historical novelists do the same! I don't know that you have to worry about conveying in a query letter how much of your book is fact. It sounds like you've incorporated a great deal of research into your writing and that should come across on its own.
I don't know that you have to worry about conveying in a query letter how much of your book is fact. It sounds like you've incorporated a great deal of research into your writing and that should come across on its own.
Isn't most historical fiction created with imaginary characters, but a historical setting? And to be credible, wouldn't that historical setting have to be true to facts?
I'm asking because I don't know. I don't even know how far back the setting must be to qualify as historical.
I'm asking because I don't know. I don't even know how far back the setting must be to qualify as historical.
It's become fashionable...
to take a real and known character and write fiction about them. Phillipa Gregory does this.
Agents and publishers seem to think that using a real historical person, someone readers might have heard of, makes a novel more marketable.
...imaginary characters, but a historical setting? And to be credible, wouldn't that historical setting have to be true to facts?
We've had quite a few arguments about this. Some people are quite cavalier about facts and details, others are strictly accurate. We mainly agree that an author's note explaining any deviance from fact is a good idea to maintain reader credibility.
As to the definition it's generally agreed that if a writer personally has to research the details because s/he did not live through the time period then it's an historical novel. The H.N.S. and H.W.A. both seem to count around fifty years ago as being history.
to take a real and known character and write fiction about them. Phillipa Gregory does this.
Agents and publishers seem to think that using a real historical person, someone readers might have heard of, makes a novel more marketable.
...imaginary characters, but a historical setting? And to be credible, wouldn't that historical setting have to be true to facts?
We've had quite a few arguments about this. Some people are quite cavalier about facts and details, others are strictly accurate. We mainly agree that an author's note explaining any deviance from fact is a good idea to maintain reader credibility.
As to the definition it's generally agreed that if a writer personally has to research the details because s/he did not live through the time period then it's an historical novel. The H.N.S. and H.W.A. both seem to count around fifty years ago as being history.
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Seems like a silly requirement, to depend on research rather than the knowledge of somebody who actually lived during the period. I say this because writers may research the facts, but portray the mores of the period all wrong. For example, anybody who lived in the 40's and 50's knew that nice girls did not lightly have pre-marital sex. Those who did found themselves ostrasized, especially if they weren't engaged. "Loose" girls were ridiculed and shunned. But you'd never know that, judging by most stories written about that era.
I would love to have read material written by somebody who actually lived through WWI!
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If you are into poetry at all, Robert Graves, Sigfried Sassoon, and Wilfred Owen all served in the war and wrote poetry in the trenches.
Owen actually died, in battle, a week before the war ended, but his legacy lives on in beautiful poems such as Anthem For Doomed Youth.
The list of writers who were affected by the war is as long as your arm.
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I'm still debating. The book that I wrote is true. The parts that I changed were insignificant and only served one purpose--hide the true identities of my sources.
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Ok, I see what you are saying now.
Put it this way, if in your narrative you put the reader inside the MCs head (thoughts, feelings, internal reactions to external events), then its a novel. If it is all being observed from the outside, and everything you write is independently verifiable, it's non-fiction. It doesn't matter if you change the names, plenty of non-fiction books change the names, and plenty of fiction books use real people's names.
Put it this way, if in your narrative you put the reader inside the MCs head (thoughts, feelings, internal reactions to external events), then its a novel. If it is all being observed from the outside, and everything you write is independently verifiable, it's non-fiction. It doesn't matter if you change the names, plenty of non-fiction books change the names, and plenty of fiction books use real people's names.
What if it's both? My MC has thoughts, feelings, reactions to external events, but the book is about the MC learning about those events the way the people in that particular area learned them. The MC, for example, was not in the war-as a soldier fighting on the frontlines--but the people around her were. All the news she learned about the causes for the war and battles, etc, came from outside sources. And everything I wrote is verifiable. It's a story, a true story, but it's still a story. Doesn't that make it narrative non-fiction?
Maybe I'm off base here, but I thought good narrative non-fiction gives the reader the information (true verifiable facts) without it feeling like a newspaper article or a wikipedia entry. The reader is supposed to get lost in the story. Right?
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Yes, but, as a simple rule-of-thumb, if your story is saying things like "John Clarke felt himself swell up with pride as he surveyed the battlefield" it's a novel. If you say "John Clarke must have felt some pride as he surveyed the battlefield", it's narrative non-fiction. If you say "John Clarke said he felt great pride upon surveying the battlefield", it's reportage.
If your text is full of things like "John Clarke felt the wind on his face, and was reminded of the last time he was free," you are putting the reader inside the head of the MC, giving them thoughts and feelings, it's a novel.
As a side note, non-fiction tends to be a little more forgiving with info-dumps. Whereas in fiction, these tend to be worked into the narrative, often turned into action scenes or dialogue. In non-fiction there tends to be a lot more "telling", in fiction, "showing".
Hope this helps,
Dave
It does, but I have another question. The Kite Runner is supposed to be narrative non-fiction and does all the things you said make it a novel-and it's in first person. I'm not saying my book is anywhere near The Kite Runner, but the style is the same. Maybe I should consider it as a memoir, since the story is basically one person's experiences.
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I haven't read it, but What is the What by Dave Eggers was one that had people arguing about how to classify it. It was sold as a novel, but subtitled The Autobiography of Valentino Achek Dang, and there was a long note at the start where Eggers explained that he transcribed this guy's story over three years, and it is written in his voice. However, the guy was only a small kid when most of the action took place, and can't remember key incidents all that well, so Eggers freely admits that he made them up, based on what he thought the guy would have done, given everything that he knew.
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It doesn't matter how true the facts are or how much research you've done. If the reader thinks and feels along with the narrator, you have a novel.
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Super. Would someone tell me what kind of novel it is then? It's not historical, it isn't commercial fiction...so what genre does it fall into?
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Contemporary Fiction!
And you would pitch it something like
A gritty novel based on real-life accounts of the Bosnian war, following [MC] as he/she [deals with conflict] while [some teaser/hook].
And if you still have doubts, you can always put a snippet or two up here or PM someone and ask them to take a peek at a little bit.
Dave
And you would pitch it something like
A gritty novel based on real-life accounts of the Bosnian war, following [MC] as he/she [deals with conflict] while [some teaser/hook].
And if you still have doubts, you can always put a snippet or two up here or PM someone and ask them to take a peek at a little bit.
Dave