It’s Only Make Believe

I was approached by a man last night following a meeting that had nothing to do with writing. He had heard that I could help him get the book he is writing published. Assuring him that I would do my best, I asked what he was writing.

“It’s just fiction,” he replied in a rather apologetic voice.

I’ve heard that reply before in that same tone of voice, as if writing fiction is something of which to be ashamed. I guess no matter how many times I hear it, my first thought will always be, what do you mean, just fiction? I don’t really blame new writers for thinking that way.

I read a great deal of non-fiction. I read history for the most part. So, I have no axe to grind with folks who look over my books and tell me, “I don’t read fiction.” That is, as long as their nose isn’t in the air when they say it.

I have written a work of non-fiction, and I was figuratively dragged kicking and screaming to sit down and do it. There are two reasons why I never want to do it again. The first reason is practical. It doesn’t sell. I knew that going into the project. The second reason is personal and contributes to the first reason. Non-fiction writers need to be experts in their subject, or at least bill themselves as such.

As expert as I might be in my subject, I refuse to bill myself as one. That’s a personal decision and a fatal flaw when it comes to selling the book. I have a difficult enough time promoting myself as an author. It always seems too egotistical, a “look what I did” kind of boast.

I don’t feel as if I short-changed myself. There is nothing involved in writing non-fiction that the fiction writer doesn’t do. As a fiction writer, I need to know my subject even though it may not exist outside my head. I do more research as a fiction writer than I ever did on a work of non-fiction. Research that I hope no law enforcement agency ever reviews.

I must adhere to the rules of grammar for punctuation, sentence, paragraph, chapter structure, spelling, and proper word usage. Then there’s the obstacle I must overcome that no non-fiction writer faces. I must show my readers what I see in a way that they will see it too. If I just tell my readers the story, I have failed them.

Just fiction? Really? There’s no such thing as just fiction. There are untold universes inside the imagination waiting to be set free. That’s what fiction writers do.

Jack LaFountain

Author of the Mann of God series