Fiction

What is Fiction?
- It refers to the inventive construction of an imaginary world its product is solely based on the
author's capability to create an event or story based on his wild and creative imagination
- creates a mood, a feeling you get from reading the selection. The mood could be happy, sad,
scary, angry, peaceful, etc…
Various modes of Fiction
Traditionally, fiction covers, but is not limited to, novels, short stories, fables, legends,
myths, fairy tales, epic, narrative poetry, and plays. It also comic books, animated cartoons,
stop motions, films, video games, and television programs, among others.
Examples
Short stories
- brief fictional prose narrative shorter than a novel and that usually deals with only a few
characters.
Novels
- is a long prose narrative that usually describes fictional characters and events in the form of
a sequential story.
Animated cartoon
Classification of Fiction
- Genre Fiction
- Literary Fiction
- Realistic Fiction
Genre Fiction
- also referred to as popular fiction
- is written to appeal to readers and fans, who are already familiar with a certain genre, by
producing a written work that is fitted to that particular genre.
Famous Genre fiction writers
George Simenon
- the writer of Maigret detective novels and known as the most novelistic of novelists in
French literature.
John Banville
- publishes crime novels
- novelist and journalist whose fiction is known for being referential, paradoxical, and
complex. Common themes throughout his work include loss, obsession, destructive love, and
the pain that accompanies freedom.
Doris Lessing
- capable of writing about African landscapes, outer space, Sufism, the nuclear holocaust,
Spanish rural poverty, a Hampstead political family, and cats, all within the same career.
- Science fiction writer
 Margaret Atwood
- science fiction writer
- Her work is often gothic, which is one reason for its wide popularity. The Handmaid's Tale
(1986) is Atwood's most famous novel.
Genre fiction bloomed from many different subgenres of the novel during the 19th century.
During the 20th century, the mass marketing of fiction intensified with the development of
other genres, including gothic novels, fantasy, science fiction, adventure novel, historical
romance and the detective novel.
The Genres
Crime fiction - is also known as detective history, murder mystery, mystery novel, and
police novel.
- It focuses on narratives that dwell on criminal acts.
- the key elements of this genre are Suspense, mystery, surprise, and problem solving.
Fantasy Fiction
- real-world myth and folklore is often the source of inspiration for this genre. It started from
oral traditions which later on became fantasy literature and drama.
- a genre of writing in which the plot could not happen in real life.
Romance Fiction
- the primary focus of this genre is the relationship and romantic love between two people.
- Its main goal is to feed its readers with emotional satisfaction, as well as an optimistic and
happy ending by creating a plot that focuses on a man and a woman falling in love with each
other and struggling to maintain that love.
- a work of extended prose fiction with a theme of love .
Science Fiction
- contains stories that are at least grounded on science based on fact or theory at the moment
the story was written.
- It deals with imaginative concepts like futuristic science and technology, space travel, time
travel, faster-than-light travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. It predicts or makes
suppositions of technologies that are not realities during the creation of the literary work.
Inspirational Fiction
- this literary genre is mainly written for the purpose of inspiring its readers through the use
of anecdotes.
- it features a significant change in the life of a major character in the story which may
inspire the readers to think that what happened to this character can possibly happen in their
own lives, too.
Horror Fiction
- aims to produce fear, fascination and revulsion on the part of the readers.
- what makes horror fiction effective to the readers is its ability to scare and blow their minds
away.
- a genre of literature, film, and television that is meant to scare, startle, shock, and even
repulse audiences.
Literary Fiction
- is written to discover any aspect of the human condition.
- it involves written works such as commentary, political criticism, or even a reflection on the
human condition.
The following are the most common characteristics of Literary fiction:

- Concerned with social commentary, political criticism, or reflection on the human condition
- Focuses on in-depth character studies of the characters whose "inner stories" are supposed to
- involve its readers, emotionally
- Concerned with the writer's style and complexity; is elegantly written, lyrical, and layered
according to Saricks
- The plot is not its central concern.
- Its tone is darker than genre fiction
- Realistic fiction - a category of imaginative writings that contains stories that could have
happened to people or animals in a place and time which is realistic or believable.It involves
stories with characters and settings that is true to life and events that could really happen.
- The following are the main characteristics of a realistic fiction:
- Its stories happen either in the present or recent past.
- Characters are involved in probable events
- Characters dwelling place is realistic
- The characters play as real people with real solutions to realistic issues.
- Events could leave questions that the reader is possible to encounter in his life.
- Elements of Fiction
1.Character - it refers to a figure in a literary work that can either be a person or other form
of being. It can entirely be an image created out of an author's imagination or a real-life
person where a clear distinction between a "fictional" versus a "real" character should be
made.
Different types of Characters
Round characters - refer to complex figures whose characteristics are varied and usually
undergo development in the story which usually produces suprise to the readers.
-a character which we know a lot of information about.
Flat characters- refer to the uncomplicated figures in a fiction which are often two-
dimensional.
Dynamic characters- these are characters in the story which are deemed to change as the
story goes on.
-character that changes due to events in the story.
Static characters- are the opposite of dynamic characters in that they remain the same from
the start to the end of the story.
-the characters that stays the same throughout the story.
Regular character - used to refer to those figures in the story that appear in almost all of the
episodes. Recurring characters- also referred to as supporting characters, have a frequent
appearances in the series of stories.
Guest characters- also known as minor characters; act only in a few episodes or scenes in a
certain story.
2. Plot- also known as the storyline, refers to the major events that move the action in
narrative. A plot has five significant elements; namely, exposition, rising action, climax,
falling action and denouement or resolution.
Exposition - It introduces the characters of the story and shows to the audience how they are
related with one another, as well as their goals, motivations and moral character.
Rising action- This stage begins with conflict which moves the main character or the
protagonist to take action. Moreover, this is the phase in the story where the main character
acknowledges his or her goal and shows the manner in which obstacles are overcome.
Climax- This is now the turning point of the story where the protagonist makes a certain
decision which will either cause him to win or lose in the battle he is in. Furthermore, the
decision he makes clearly gives a description on the kind of person he is.
Falling action- The element comprises event which lead to the ending of the story in which
the character's actions got the problem fixed.
Denoument- This phase is where the conflict has officially ended. The problem has been
solved by both the protagonist and the antagonist. Finally, the story shows what eventually
happened to the characters after the conflict ends.
3. Point of view - it refers to the point from which a narrative is told.
A story can be told in either first-person point of view, in which the author is also the
character in the story who refers to himself or herself as "I", or third-person point of view
which has two types: the omniscient, where the author becomes an all-knowing narrator who
can recall actions thoroughly and enter into any character's mind in the work or whatever
period to uncover to the readers his or her thoughts, feelings and beliefs, and the limited in
which the author relies on a single character's views to recount the story.
4. Setting- refers to the time and geographic location involved in a particular story.
Generally it sets the mood for a story.
- setting itself has it own elements that a writer must consider, too, including culture,
historical period, geography an hour.
5. Style - authors should be fully aware about style in order to create a literary work which
catches the attention and interest of the readers or the audience.
6. Theme (s) - considered as the central and dominating idea in a literary work.
Techniques and literary devices in fiction
Literary works, including fiction, serve a lot of purposes for many people; one of which is
for entertainment. For this reason, it is but necessary that a fiction writer is able to deliver a
kind of story which appeals to the senses of its readers in order to attain its eng goal- to
entertain. In this regard, the writer's good taste and choice of techniques and literary devices
in fiction is very important not only for an entertaining story, but for a more interesting,
meaningful and authenthic work.
1.Allegory - this literary device makes use of a character, place, or event which is meant
to deliver a broader message, usually a moral or political one, concerning issues events
which are happening in the real world.
2. Symbol - To make fiction more interesting, the author can play around with words,
objects, actions or characters in the story to infer something aside from its dictionary or
literal meaning.
3. Irony - there are three types of irony that a writer can make use of :

 Verbal irony - it is used when what one says is totally different from what he actually
meant. This type is similar to sarcasm.
  Situational irony - this happens when the actual outcome of an action is different from
your expected outcome.

 Dramatic irony - it happens when the audience, not the character himself, knows more
regarding the character's situation.

4. Imagery - the writers connects with the readers by appealing to their senses, including
sense of sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing, with the intention to create " word pictures"

Two types of imagery

Figurative language- in which the meaning of a statement not be taken literally. For example,"
The war zone looked like the moonscape.

Literal imagery- is the other way around. It makes use of concrete and specific language to
construct various clear pictures. For example, " The boy walked along the muddy, wet, gravel
road, as the red maples and crimson birch blew in the cold autumn wind".The most commonly
used figures of speech are the following:

 Simile- the writer makes a direct comparison between two totally different things by
using the word "like" or "as" Example: Your lips are as red as roses.His voice is as loud
as thunder.
 Metaphor- similar to simile, this figure of speech makes a comparison between two
unlike things, but without the use of "like" or "as".Example: Life is hell without you.You
are music to my soul.
 Personification- this figure of speech allows the writer to assign animals, objects, or ideas
with human qualities, attributes or abilities.Example: "The angry wind knocked over the
chair and slammed the shutters."The leaves dance as the wind blows.
 Hyperbole- this figure of speech, the writer practices exaggeration or overstatement for
the purpose of emphasis.Example: It took forever for the bus to arrive.She cried a river
when left her.