Non-Fiction and Fiction can be seen in all kinds of arts and entertainment, including movies, literature, plays, etc.
Fiction can be defined as a story that includes imaginary events and characters. These are based on the author’s imagination. Most movies or literary works made for mass audience are fiction. Now, it is important to say that fiction does not necessarily mean that something is unreal. Many realistic situations that all of us have experienced can be used for fiction movies. However, the characters and the events are imaginary, which is why it is called “fiction”.
Movies or books (autobiographies, for example) that tell the story about a real person and real events that actually took place are called “non-fiction”.
Now, let us learn more about both fiction vs non-fiction.
Non-Fiction:
As we said, non-fiction movies or books are based on real events. Such stories are about certain people and their lives, or they can be focused on a particular event. Even though the story is real, some elements can be added to the story, just to make it more interesting, but these elements never change the story. Some great autobiographies (and biographies) make good examples of nonfiction. When you see a movie starting with “Based on a true story” – that is nonfiction.
Fiction:
Fiction is a story that has imaginary characters. The events can be quite realistic, and so as characters. In some cases, fiction can be inspired by real people and real events. However, the names and other details will be changed. Sometimes, fiction can be so far from realistic. For example, science fiction movies are often futuristic and unreal. That is what most people consider fiction. However, the story does not have to be bizarre to be fiction. In fact, the story can look quite real.
For example, you can read a book about a person who lives quite a ‘normal’ life, but the fact that this character is imaginary makes the book fiction. In fact, some experts say that fiction is valuable only if it is believable. The first one to say this was Mark Twain. The skill of shaping a character to be much like a real person is only seen in truly talented authors.
However, nonfiction can be equally demanding. You need to present the characters and the events accurately. You have to pay attention to every detail, which is quite a task.
