Fiction versus reality

Or as I said to a friend who just didn't 'get it': "Something exists that wasn't here before I came."

kuwisdelu said:

Fiction explores reality better than reality itself allows.

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And, more importantly, fiction allows people to look at the ugly side of themselves and their culture without consciously taking offense and, thus, refusing to see the truth in the story.

DeleyanLee said:

And, more importantly, fiction allows people to look at the ugly side of themselves and their culture without consciously taking offense and, thus, refusing to see the truth in the story.

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which is really quite sad. for ages people sat around fires in circles listening to stories in order to "see" themselves.

Money, pure and simple. I do enjoy writing, but not enough to ever write for free.

It's not by any means the only reason that I write, but I know that one of the reasons I'm drawn to write romances is that I feel pained by the lack of romance in my own life. It would be easy to imagine writing a piece of fiction as being like casting a magic spell - that writing about a character finding love might somehow magically bring love into my own life. I don't actually believe it works that way, but it's a tempting thought.

I feel just the other way, actually. I find non-fiction way more interesting both to write and to read - real life to me beats most fictional accounts.
Maybe my imagination just really sucks - that's possible too

I don't have a profound reason for doing it. I just like to write.

Ton Lew Lepsnaci said:

Hi Bushrat,

I'm curious, what kind of non fiction do you write?
I'd agree reality beats fiction in many cases, but like to blend both.

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Mostly outdoorsy stuff - about people living out in the bush, kayaking and hiking trips in far-flung places, wildlife stories. There are a lot of eccentric and weird people up here (the Yukon) and the stuff they've done is way cooler than anything I could ever dream up...

With true stories you have to find the tales that explore the questions you want to explore. With fiction you can craft tales to explore exactly what you want.