Non-Fiction
Non-fiction covers a large group of writing intended to be accurate, edifying, and true. Scientific studies, memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, how-to books. There might be some mistakes or things in them that are wrong, however the author’s intention and every effort is devoted to being correct. Most non-fiction writers are more focused on the feeding the reader’s head than the reader’s heart. I grew up writing non-fiction. A dissertation to get my Ph. D. in history, then scientific smoking studies, grant reports. Good, clear, and concise. Who knows, had I stayed in academics, maybe I’d still be writing non-fiction.
It is permissible in non-fiction to speculate where there is a gap in knowledge. For example, Edgar Allen Poe disappeared for a period of time before he was found dead. No one knows why for sure. Van Gogh died from a gunshot wound. How that happened is anyone’s guess. People don’t usually leave a note explaining how they died. And if they did, there would be speculation as to whether that letter was authentic or correct. The best the non-fiction writer can do in such situations is to note the probabilities and state their own view based on some new information we may have uncovered. It’s a strategy meant to reduce our risk of being wrong on the theory that an educated guess gets us closer to the truth than a total lack of information. A fiction writer would simply take one of the alternative theories and base their story on that, something that might be called, The Last Days of Edgar Allen Poe. No worries about being true as long as it is labeled a novel, has narrative drive, the ring of truth, and moves the reader.
Just about everything in the musical, The Sound of Music, is not true. What apparently is true is that Maria was nun; was a governess for the seven children of a retired ship captain Von Trapp; they did marry, and they did leave Austria before the Nazis invaded. They did not skip out in the nick of time and in the dark of night. They came to America and wound up running a ski resort in Vermont. However, other than that, it didn’t happen the way the musical went. It was quite disappointing to learn this on a Sound of Music Tour I took with my then-wife and parents when we visited Salzburg back in the late 1960s. But the story was compelling, it had compelling characters, wonderful voices and music, gorgeous scenery, lots of great drama, and the viewer understands the emotions of the actors. Who cares if everything in it was not “true.” One could write a non-fiction account of the Von Trapp family, maybe there is one, which would be interesting and enjoyable to read and would teach a lot about Nazism in Austria before WWII. It would just be a different work.
I know from personal experience how hard it is to switch over from writing non-fiction to writing fiction. Non-fiction comes from the head, filtered by the heart. Fiction comes from the heart, filtered by the head. Two different worlds. I won’t say much about writing fiction, since I’ve left that world behind me.
Next: Creative Non-Fiction