Truth in writing, what does it mean to the writer, how important is it?
Nonfiction is a form of narrative whose assertions are understood to be factual; accurate or not. That is, it can be a true or false account of the subject in question; however it is generally assumed that the authors of such accounts believe them to be truthful at the time of their composition. I put it to you that, oftentimes, those prose are written from a highly prejudicial point of view. I can just see those nonfiction purists among you shaking your heads. Continue reading “Nonfiction vs. Fiction”
Approximately nine years ago, after sending a manuscript to just about every mainstream publisher, I was eventually told that the only way I would find the right publisher and actually have my work looked at seriously was to present my material through a literary agent. I then went about systematically, submitting the manuscript to every single literary agent I could find. Take into account that this was at a time when everything had to be submitted in hard copy and very few agents could be located through the internet; it is enough to say that it was not an inexpensive exercise. 
The subject of writing a post (theme, content et cetera) has come up several times of late. When our own EM covered the subject (How to Write a Blog Post) I made the comment: “It doesn’t matter what blog, post/article I have to write I always leave it until the day before it’s due (waiting for inspiration) and then (panic stricken) write about the first thing that comes into my head.” I guess I’m one of the ‘seat of the pants’ kinda guys. The following post is no exception (Oh thrilling…).
‘Write what you know.’ We have all heard that statement in one context or another, but what does it mean? This is actually a beast that raises its head periodically, in many different guises, at Indies Unlimited. The ‘Get it right’ posts are just one guise; I think all of the staff and several guests have done at least one piece on the subject. ‘
I was being interviewed on an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) radio program last year and one of the questions put to me was, “So, being an historical fiction based on fact, I suppose you would have had to do some research for ‘Terra Nullius’; as apposed to, say, your usual genres of memoir or pure fiction?” The assumption being that the ‘memoirs’ came straight out of my memory, and the ‘fiction’ came straight out of my imagination.