Classification Conundrum

Er... does it have Fantasy elements?

drdave said:

You mean whimsical characters, like "Where the Wild Things Are"? No. I mentioned Fantasy only because I fantasized about devising a way to transcend an insurmountable barrier confronting me. See? Outside of Fiction and Nonfiction I know nothing about genre classification. But I think you just helped me rule out Fantasy. Thanks, Will.

Click to expand...

Are you writing a children's picture book? I think not.

I mean Fantasy as in, dragons, magic, alternative worlds, changing physics against common beliefs, etc.
That's Fantasy.

Fiction means not factual. If 20% of your story did not happen to you, then that part of it is fiction.


I just need to ask: What is this 20%? What you wish to happen in your life? Dream fulfillment?

If you have a non-fiction book with events that did not happen, is it really facts?

One could make an argument that even the most honest memoir is fiction, but that's not how they shelve books or run search engines.

A memoir with a conclusion that does not coincide with any real event is fiction. A memoir allows changing of names, telescoping of events, and other such means of blunting the truth, but raw fabrication of the contrafactual pushes it over the edge.

If a crime is involved, it's crime fiction. If a mystery is involved, it's mystery fiction. If a ray gun is involved, it's science fiction. Etcetera. I oversimplify for the sake of emphasis, obviously, but the fiction genre of such a work depends on the content of the story, while the classification as fiction or non-fiction comes from whether or not it's recognizable as a true story.

Does that make sense?

Your almost-memoir is a wish-fulfilment fantasy.

What's confusing the issue is that while "fantasy" might classify your book accurately, "fantasy" is NOT the correct genre. If you ever try to get the book published, it would be a mistake to ever refer to it as fantasy, since that is, as WillSauger said, the genre for people who like wizards and werewolves.

What you've written is fiction.

I think it's also fiction that could get you into legal trouble, if it's ever published, if there happens to be any real people depicted in it that are likely to recognize themselves and the situations (especially if you make them look bad in your better-than-life ending.)

If you're never going to publish this book--i.e. if you wrote it just for catharsis--then don't worry about that. Also don't worry too much about how to classify the book, if that's the case. It's simply your book, and it is what it is.

If the ending isn't real, you're writing fiction, not a memoir.

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I had a friend who did that and it was published as fiction. Just general fiction.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal