Dealing With Facts in Fiction


Fictional stories are just that – works of imagination and fantasy. Characters, situations, places and events are all made up. But even the most imaginative novels sometimes have to incorporate a sense of realism, and that means authors have to deal with facts.
Facts in fiction may not seem a crucial component, but many authors omit even the basic facts. While this won’t affect the story, it will affect the reader’s enjoyment of it, because a sense of realism helps the reader to immerse themselves, it adds layers to the story.
Getting to grips with facts – and what to include in your story – can be a minefield. Don’t include too many that it reads like a technical brochure, but conversely, don’t leave any facts out that the reader won’t be half as convinced as they would if you’d dropped in a few real snippets.
There are a number of ways to approach how you use facts in storytelling. Often, writers use real places as their setting, but then everything else within the story is fictitious. For example, place names, road names, names of buildings or names of companies could all be fictional in a story that takes place somewhere in France. 
This method is common because it allows the writer to put the action in a real place, but they don’t have to worry too much about anything else, because they can make up things like road names, suburbs, other places, buildings, companies and so on that might appear in the story.
Another way is to place the action in a real place complete with actual road names, places, buildings etc. That means it’s vital that you get these facts right. That also means you may have to make sure transport systems, layouts and famous parks etc., are all correct. are correct. If your setting is in London, where there is an abundance of famous landmarks, you can’t leave out any facts.
This approach needs thorough research, especially if you are writing about a location you are not too familiar with or have never visited. It’s important to get the research right, because if you get it wrong, it will be noticed.
The last method is to make everything completely fictitious. That way, the writer has free range about where the story is set, the place names, road names, buildings, names of parks, transport systems, other places, suburbs...in fact, just about anything.
Dealing with facts can get complicated. Research thoroughly, or better still, write what you know. Don’t get bogged down with facts – place enough of them in the narrative throughout the story to give a sense of reality, but don’t overload your writing with them. Remember, the more facts you add, the more likely you are to make an error, and one of your readers will notice, even if you don’t.
Keep it balanced and simple.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter & Novel Lengths

Just how long should a chapter be? What’s the best length? And does a novel have to fit into a set amount of words? These are just two of the most common questions asked by writers.   They assume they have to work to a strict template of X amount of words and X amount of chapters, usually because most novels have around 30 or 40 chapters and around 80,000 words.   Novel Lengths Firstly, let’s dispel a few myths - novel lengths are dictated by the story itself, not the writer or the editor or a specific written formula.   Secondly, writers don’t have to fit their word count into generic set amounts.   Again, the story will dictate how long the novel will be. It’s also worth knowing the different types of novels that work well with different word counts.   Uncomplicated stories containing minimal characters tend to be short – usually around 20,000 to 60,000 words.   These are called novellas. Longer, more complex stories, which contain a handful o...
Read more

What Makes a Story Dark?

If you’re a horror writer or you love to write dark, psychological stories and thrillers, or moralistic tales, this is the one question that needs an answer. Wanting a dark story and writing one are two different things, so how do you actually make a story dark? To answer that you first have to understand what is meant by ‘dark’. We usually define ‘dark’ as quantifiable elements that we know and are familiar with, but it’s more than that. Dark doesn’t necessarily mean scary or gory with a crazy psychopath going around chopping people into bits. Instead we have to think of ‘dark ‘as anything outside our accepted rose-tinted reality. Dark is the underbelly of our society; it’s the handling of ideas, themes, social issues and behaviours that would be seen as morally unacceptable. It’s less about fictional monsters but more about the real monsters that lurk in the shadows, something that is underscored by our fears and anxieties. It’s the unknown, because the things we don’t know ...
Read more

Modifiers, Intensifiers and Qualifiers - Part 2

Unlike modifiers, which modify words or phrases, an Intensifier is a term for a modifier that amplifies the meaning of the word it modifies. An intensifier is used exclusively to modify adverbs and adjectives and is placed  before the word it is meant to modify.  In simple terms, the intensifier emphasises adverbs and adjectives - it makes them more intense . The word is derived from Latin, meaning to “intend or stretch”. In grammatical terms, the intensifier lends no weight to the meaning of a sentence other than to give it an additional emotional nuance to the word it is modifying, however, since they modify adverbs and adjectives, they should be treated in the same way adverbs adjectives – used little and sparingly wherever possible within your writing. This is where learning to spot them will benefit your quality of writing. Intensifiers are attributive and serve only to fill space, so unless there is a valid reason to intensify the meaning and emotion ...
Read more