Fiction and Creative Nonfiction

Book and eBook manuscripts

HyperEdits handles editing and formatting of ebook and book manuscripts of any kind. I handle books intended for traditional publishers, ebook release or paperback print-on-demand.  Work by indie authors self-publishing for Kindle, Smashwords, CreateSpace or other outlets is welcome. My particular strength is editing of creative writing, fiction and creative nonfiction of any length or genre.

manuscript editingFiction: novels, novellas, short stories, poetry

Creative Nonfiction: memoirs, life stories, family history; spiritual or confessional autobiographies; travel books, personal essays

What’s the difference between a novel and a memoir?

All fiction draws on the writer’s own experience to some extent, even if indirectly through nuance of character, dialogue, description or thematic interest. Conversely, any effective autobiographical account makes use of the elements of fiction: character focus, action, dialogue, scene construction, narrative structure, conflict and resolution. So to some extent the distinction between fiction and creative nonfiction is arbitrary.

Nonfiction as a general term is categorized by its subject matter, and is not necessarily creative; it can be academic or technical. Creative nonfiction, on the other hand, uses a more personal voice, and takes the flavor of story, akin to fiction.

The simplest distinction is that nonfiction, however creative, is faithful to the facts of what actually happened; whereas fiction departs from that baseline with imaginative embellishment. Naturally there can be gray areas between these two categories, for the writer to play in.

While genre fiction tends to emphasize plot and action, character development is key to a story’s depth and quality, and is the hallmark of literary fiction.

Memoir stresses the movement of the main character through time, and the realizations and life lessons that occur along the way. In some cases those lessons are not learned within the narrative timeframe itself, but are revealed in the mature author’s perspective and treatment, looking back. The tone is intimate or conversational, the style personal rather than neutral.

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Fiction and Creative Nonfiction by Nowick Gray | Essay: Fiction and Nonfiction