I’ve always been a bit awestruck by the term “non-fiction.” To me it in some way denigrates writing about things that are real. It reduces writing about things that are true or reality based to something that is “non,” or lesser. According to Dictionary.reference.com, fiction is something: “feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story” and yet non-fiction is defined as “opinions or conjectures upon facts and reality.”
Now I’m certain this is a chicken or egg debate and nobody will ever be able to define which came first. I would argue however that writing about reality is something that we can all relate to more readily than fiction, after all, I suspect most of us live in the real world (with the exception of certain politicians of course).
Non-fiction is certainly the more popular genre of reading, but for the life of me, I can’t grasp why? Is it the escape from reality? Is it the mental transport to another place where we know we can never exist? I don’t have those answers but I do know that it grates me every time I hear the term “non-fiction.”
Your thoughts?
Dennis “K1” Blanchard