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What is Fiction? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples

Fiction Definition

Fiction (FICK-shun) is a literary genre comprised of narratives that aren’t factual but are, instead, products of the authors’ imaginations. Fiction is the opposite of nonfiction, a literary genre consisting of historically accurate narratives about real people or events. Fiction writers construct imaginary worlds, typically with symbolism, thematic elements, and aesthetic value.

Most fiction is prose, and novels and short stories are the most common forms. There are two main categories in fiction—literary fiction and genre or popular fiction—though the line between these two delineations can occasionally blur.

The word fiction comes from the Latin fictio, meaning “a fashioning or forming,” which describes the creative world-building central to the genre.

The Characteristics and Types of Fiction

Literary Fiction

Works of literary fiction include at least one of these characteristics:

  • Abundant use of literary devices: Authors employ any number of literary devices to enrich the story, such as allegories, imagery, metaphors, and symbolism.
  • Character-driven narratives: The characters, rather than the events of the story, move the plot forward. The characters’ internal lives and motivations are of primary interest to the author and the audience.
  • Exploration of larger themes: Literary fiction tends to examine larger themes of the human condition. It’s not uncommon for these works to function as a commentary on society, nature, or human behavior.
  • Sophisticated language: The language an author uses might involve an advanced vocabulary, poetic descriptions, didacticism, and/or lofty references or allusions.
  • Unconventional plots: Authors may structure plots in nontraditional ways that challenge accepted formulas and reader expectations, such as nonlinear narratives and ambiguous endings.

Genre/Popular Fiction

Works of genre or popular fiction have a more widespread appeal, but that doesn’t make them any more or less important than works of literary fiction. Genre/popular fiction usually has the following characteristics:

  • Adherence to a formula: Writers of genre/popular fiction stick to formulas that readers expect. From one work to the next, plots follow a similar trajectory and characters possess certain shared traits and motivations.
  • Focus on plot: Stories in genre/popular fiction are plot driven. Characters still play a significant role, but the writer’s emphasis is more on driving the plot forward through events and less on the meticulous development of characters.
  • Readability: Genre/popular fiction is generally easy to read and understand. Writers utilize accessible language and concepts, and they construct plots and characters for maximum entertainment and reader engagement.

Examples of genre or popular fiction include:

  • Crime: This kind of fiction centers on criminal acts, investigations, and outcomes. Courtroom thrillers, like John Grisham’s A Time to Kill and Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent, and detective novels, like Sue Grafton’s Alphabet Mystery series and Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, are two subgenres of popular crime fiction.
  • Fantasy: These novels take place in richly imagined worlds not bound to known realities or scientific laws; things like folklore, magic, mythology, and/or the supernatural might all influence these worlds. Popular fantasy novels include Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series and Suzanne Hamilton’s Hunger Games trilogy.
  • Horror: Writers of horror fiction aim to scare and shock the reader. These works may or may not employ supernatural elements; psychological horror is often just as frightening. Horror novels like Stephen King’s It and Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire are popular mainstays.
  • Romance: These novels chart the romantic relationship between two characters (usually), typically resulting in a happily-ever-after ending. Novels like Laura London’s The Windflower and Nicholas Sparks’s The Notebook are classics of the genre.
  • Science Fiction: Books in this category take place in imagined worlds rich with speculative elements, such as technology, futurism, space travel, and other science-based concepts. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin are just two popular science fiction novels.

The Formats of Fiction

Novels, novellas, and short stories are among the most common fiction formats. However, because fiction deals with made-up stories and characters, the term can describe any format that presents a fictionalized plot. This includes plays, comic books and graphic novels, fables and fairy tales, and even some types of poetry, such as narrative poems and epic poems.

A fiction format that has grown exponentially in recent years is fan fiction. Fan fiction is a work that uses characters or settings originally developed by another writer as the basis for a new story. Though the original novel’s ideas are copyrighted, fan fiction is largely seen as an homage to the source work. The Harry Potter books and Twilight series inspired legions of fan fiction—including, in the case of the latter, the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

The Function of Fiction

The primary purpose of fiction is to entertain the reader. The genre offers fully imagined worlds that keep readers engaged through compelling characters and plotlines. Fiction can also educate and enlighten, introducing readers to people, settings, and experiences they wouldn’t normally encounter in their daily lives.

Fiction can present and inspire ideas, and it can comment on existing structures of power, politics, and society. Fiction often integrates age-old themes that have long interested writers, such as humanity and its foibles, the beauty and brutality of nature, and the eternal mysteries of love and death. In essence, this genre is both an escape from the world and an opportunity to learn more about it.

Examples of Fiction

1. Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Alcott’s 1868 novel is a classic work of literary fiction that follows the lives and loves of the four March sisters: Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy. It is a coming-of-age story focusing on the sisters’ evolution from girlhood to young womanhood as they try to find their respective places in the world. Little Women is a fictionalized version of Alcott’s own life and her relationship with her sisters.

2. Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time

This work is a beloved, award-winning science fiction novel. It tells the story of high schooler Meg Murry, who embarks on an epic adventure through time and space. Her younger brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin O’Keefe accompany her on a quest to rescue Meg and Charles Wallace’s scientist father from an evil being holding him captive on another planet. And, in the process, they end up saving the world.

3. Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

Morrison’s 1977 work of literary fiction recounts the life and death of Macon “Milkman” Dead III. Milkman is a Black man living in Michigan, estranged from his family, his history, and himself. Over the course of 30-plus years, his best friend Guitar and his aunt Pilate help him understand and embrace his identity and his worth. Morrison infuses Milkman’s story with magical realism and African American folklore.

4. Stephen King, Carrie

A horror novel for the ages, King’s work centers on 16-year-old Carrie White, whose story unfolds through fictional letters, newspaper articles, and magazine stories. Raised by a religious-authoritarian mother, Carrie is a misfit at school and the target of merciless bullies. Carrie is also telekinetic, possessing the power to move anything with her mind. She ultimately uses this power to exact a bloody revenge at the school prom, getting back at those who bullied her, the community that forsook her, and, finally, the mother who despised her.

5. Tommy Orange, There There

Orange’s 2018 work of literary fiction chronicles a community of Oakland, California, Native Americans as they prepare and gather for an urban powwow. The narrative illuminates the experiences of Native Americans living in large metropolitan cities and how these environments shape their lives, relationships, and identities. The characters confront a number of challenges stemming from their painful and complex history―including alcoholism and drug addiction, fetal alcohol syndrome, mental illness, and unemployment―yet they are also unique inheritors of a profound and beautiful spirituality and purpose. Eventually, the characters assemble at the powwow, where a shocking crime occurs that alters their lives forever.

Further Resources on Fiction

NY Book Editors looks at the differences between literary and genre/popular fiction.

Writers.com delves into literary fiction and what sets it apart from genre/popular fiction.

Joanna Penn breaks down the seven steps to writing a first novel.

Writer’s Digest explains the five biggest fiction writing mistakes and how to fix them.

The New Yorker offers a tongue-in-cheek list of eight rules for writing fiction.