everybody this is food for thought thoughts if
it were you and this is neogentrics welcome back
everybody this is season two it is 2021 now i've
been around for a while i haven't been able to
upload a lot of episodes like i initially wanted
to last year but i mean there was so much going
on there's a lot of debate how everyone was even
worried about who was going to be the president
and i must admit That was definitely an issue
at some point. But with that being said, now,
of course, we have a new president. It's Joe
Biden. But what can we do? That hasn't stopped
me in the slightest. I am still going to go about
giving you all the same information, the same
historical context, the same stuff that you have
expected from me for the last two to three years.
And on top of that, my channel for my retro gaming.
We'll be starting back up this year as well,
not to mention all my books. So, as my books
come out, I will be giving more information and
more details on those moving forward. Now, let's
go ahead and go into today's topic of discussion
that I wish to cover. And the topic is fiction,
or rather, fiction stories as a whole. Okay?
First question is, what is fiction? What defines
the terms of fiction as a whole, as far as stories
go? Fiction stories are generally a narrative
form in any medium consisting of people, events,
places, but mostly stuff that's imaginary. Based
on historical accuracy or fact. In its most narrow
usage. It's essentially fiction refers to written
narratives in a prose. Or specifically in novels.
Or novelles or short stories. Things that people
tend to write that are shorter than an average
book. More broadly though. Fiction has come to
essentially encompass. The imaginary expression
of any form included, but not limited to just
writings, but also live theatrical performances
such as films, TV programs, dramas, radio dramas,
comics, role -playing, and even video games.
The whole encompassness of fiction is the whole
theme of your imagination, which brings out its
definition. The work of fiction implies the...
inventive construction of an imaginary world
and most commonly its Fictionality is publicly
acknowledged so its audience typically expects
to deviate from in some way or somehow From the
real world rather than presenting only characters
who actually exist or portray them as factually
true, okay But you still have to make it somewhat
believable. So keep that in mind Fiction is generally
understood as not adhering to the real world,
which consequently leaves its themes and its
context such as if how it relates to the real
world or real issues open to various interpretations,
like you can think of it however you want. This
is how most of my stories are written. Characters'
events within fictional works may even exist
in their own context, entirely separate from
the known physical universe or an independent
fictional universe that you've created. Most
of the stories that I write, that's their context.
In contrast, you know, to fiction, it is a traditional
opposite. Nonfiction in which the creator assumes
responsibility for presenting only the historical
and factual truth. But I'm not covering nonfiction
today. Okay. But despite the usual distinction
between fiction and non -fiction, some modern
works blur that boundary, particularly ones that
fall under a certain experimental genre for storytelling,
including post -modern fiction, auto -fiction,
which is still fairly new even now, or creative
non -fiction. like non -fiction novels and docudramas,
as well as literary frauds, which are falsely
marked for some reason as non -fiction. None
of those are non -fiction. All of those are fiction.
But I digress. At any rate, let me take a short
break here real quick, clear my throat, and we'll
go into the different formats, shall we? All
right, everybody, and we're back. So in the last
segment, we covered the essential definition
of fiction and, you know, what it incorporates
or portrays as fiction. And, you know, again,
to sum it up in a nutshell, it's essentially
an imaginary world of the construction of the
creator, the person who came up with it, the
person who designed it. They still have to give
some truth, some historical facts and stuff to
make it enough that it's believable. But it's
understood that it's fiction and it's acknowledged
as such. And in today's society, it's a lot easier
to acknowledge a fictional world and believe
that to be true than it is to acknowledge the
real world. Though, at the moment, it may seem
like non -fiction sells more, and a lot of people
want to know what's going on lively, but there
are actually way more people that are more interested
in the fictional genre than there is non -fiction,
because they know that, essentially, they've
come to terms that, rather, that reality sucks,
it's not going to improve, and they don't like
people. So, with that being said, fiction has
basically spawned off into several different
formats, including additional genres as well.
And I'll cover some of those additional genres
either later in this episode or in another. So,
beginning with the formats, you know, traditional
fiction includes, and I'm going to go ahead and
list off some here, novels, short stories, fables,
which I haven't seen very many of anymore. legends,
myths, fairy tales, epics, and even narrative
poetry. It still exists in plays, though they're
not as common as they used to be, except during
Shakespearean times and older 1900s eras going
backwards to like the 18th or 17th century. This
includes operas, musicals, dramas, puppet plays,
which... I don't remember the last time I've
seen a puppet play. And various kinds of theatrical
dances. Usually when I think of that, your first
response would be to go to some type of Asian
theater. However, fiction may also encompass
comic books and many other animated cartoons,
stop motion, anime, manga, films, video games,
and even radio programs, and some television
programs as well, such as comedies and dramas.
The list goes on, but that's just a light summary
of everything. At any rate, the internet has
had this major impact on the creation and distribution
of fiction. You can pretty much find it anywhere.
It calls into the question of the feasibility
of copyright, which means the ability to earn
royalties or even being paid as a copyright holder.
Digital libraries such as Project Gutenberg make
public domain texts more readily available, so
the combination of inexpensive home computers,
internet creativity of its users... I mean, it's
led to new forms of fiction such as interactive
computer games and even computer -generated comics.
Which, might I add, are not that much fun to
read, but they're interesting nonetheless. There
are countless forums for fanfiction which can
be found online, which, you know, loyal followers
of a specific fictional realm, region, genre,
it's still typically fiction, but they create
and distribute derivative stories from their
original hosts, like their take on the whole
thing, or their possibility on the whole thing.
The internet is also used for the development
of blog fiction, where a story is delivered through
a blog, either as a flash section or a serial
blog, or even collaborative fiction, where a
story is written sequentially by different authors,
or the entire text can be revised by anyone,
including Wikipedia. So, just something to keep
in mind. There are different types of literary
fiction. though that is considered the standard,
and are distinguished by relative length, and
they include short fiction, which is basically
the boundary between a long story and a novella,
which is kind of vague, but the short stories
are commonly fewer than 7 ,500 words or 7 ,500
words. It's a short story, so, yeah. Then there's
the novella, which I mentioned before. It's essentially
a 17 ,500 word story to about 40 ,000 words at
the most. A good example of stories like this
would be Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case
of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. That came out in
1886, I do believe. And Joseph Conrad's Heart
of Darkness. Now that one came out in 1899. Still
really, really good stories. they're over 17
,500 words, but not quite 40 ,000 words. But
they're clearly over the 7 ,500 word limit, so
they're not a short story. And then you have
the standard novels, which are over 40 ,000 words
or more in length. Okay. So those are the general
formats that fiction has essentially taken and
examples of what they are. In the next piece,
we're going to cover what, genre fiction is and
what it means and what it's broken down into.
And then we'll follow that up with literary fiction
and what it encompasses. Okay? All right, everybody.
And we're back. So let's go ahead and discuss
the genre of fiction. Like I mentioned before,
fiction is commonly broken down into a variety
of different genres. You know, subsets of fiction,
if you will. Each differentiated by a particular
unifying tone or style or setting. A set of narrative
techniques or archetypes or tropes. media content
or either popularity defined by a certain criterion
that it follows. For example, science fiction.
It predicts or supposes technologies that are
not based in the reality at the time of the work's
creation. An example of that would be Jules Verne's
novel From the Earth to the Moon. That was published
in 1865. 1969 astronaut Neil Armstrong and Buzz
Aldrin became the first persons to land on the
moon. The book came out before the initial attempt
to reach the moon. So while that story had its
set theme, when the actual thing occurred, there
was some clear differences between the two. Then
there's another category, historical fiction,
which places imaginary characters into real historical
events. In 1814, historical novel Waverly Sir
Walter Scott's fictional character, Edward Waverly,
meets a figure from history, Bonnie Prince Charlie,
and takes part in the Battle of the, what was
it, Prestipans, I think that's what it is. Some
works of fiction are slightly or greatly reimagined
based on some original true story or constructed
biography. Often when fictional story is based
on fact, there will be additions and subtractions
from the true story to make it more interesting.
An example of this would be Tim O 'Brien's The
Things They Carried. It's a 1990s series of short
stories about the Vietnam War. Super popular,
by the way, but again, really, really good. Then
there's the fictional works that involve, explicitly
involve supernatural, magical, or scientifical
possibilities. Those are often classified under
the genre of fantasy, including Lewis Carroll's
1864 novel, the fable well -known Alice's Adventures
in Wonderland. because everyone knows Alice Adventures
in Wonderland, or the more popular J .K. Rowling's
Harry Potter series, or J .R .R. Tolkien's The
Lord of the Rings. Those fall into the category
of fantasy. Creators of fantasy sometimes introduce
imaginary creatures, beings such as dragons and
fairies, to help bring about what they're talking
about. Now, the genre of fiction itself is...
pretty big thing to cover. And like I said, it
has many sub -genres. And that's something that
I'll have to come back to because it's really
in -depth and it covers more than the standard.
So if I don't get to it in this episode, I'll
definitely come back to it in another subsequent
episode as a bonus. But genre fictions are known
as popular fictions. It's a term used in the
trade book a book trade, sorry, for fictional
works written with the intent of fitting into
a specific literary genre in order to appeal
to readers and fans already familiar with that
genre. There are a number of literary figures
who have written fiction in that type of genre.
I named a few already. There are others like
John Vanville, who publishes crime novels as
Benjamin Black. And both Doris Lessing and Margaret
Atwood have written science fiction as well.
George Sim... How do you say this guy's name?
Simenon, the creator of the Migrant Detective
novels. I mean, they've done really, really well.
And these genres that they write into are really,
really popular. Now, before I end this and move
forward with the rest of what fiction is... Like
I said, I'll come back and cover the genres of
fiction. But the main genres of fiction are crime,
fantasy, romance, science fiction, western, inspirational.
That's apparently fiction. Historical fiction
and horror. Now, those I'll come back into cover
more readily later. But I want to start off by
at least introducing the whole continuity and
genre of fiction as a whole. Now, more commercially,
oriented genre fiction has been dismissed by
literary critics as poorly written, but it doesn't
change the fact that it's still there. So, like
I said, I'll come back and talk about the history
of genres and all the different genres, but essentially
right now I just want to cover, you know, what
is fiction. Okay, there's not really much left
there to cover as far as fiction is concerned,
but we do have the next section that I would
like to cover and get straight to the point.
Now, literature as a whole is a whole other topic,
a whole other debacle. Something else to look
into more depth, but one of the things I want
to touch on in this episode that I may go into
more detail later when I cover genre fiction
is literary fiction. That's a term used in the
book trade to distinguish novels that are regarded
as having literary merit for most commercial
or, as they claim, genre fiction. An example
of what I'm talking about would be Neal Stephenson.
He has suggested that while any definition would
be simplistic, there is today a general culture
difference between literary and genre fiction,
apparently. On one hand, literary authors nowadays
are frequently supported by patronage, with employment
at a university or a similar institution. And
with the continuation of such positions determined
not by book sales, but by critical acclaim by
other established literary authors and critics.
On the other hand, we... You know, he suggests
that genre fiction writers tend to support themselves
by book sales. However, in the interview with,
like, John Updike, he lamented that the category
of literary fiction has sprung up recently to
torment people like me who just set out to write
books, and if anybody wanted to read them, terrific,
the more the merrier. You know, I'm a genre writer
of a sort. I write literary fiction, which is
like spy fiction or chick lit. You know, likewise,
on the Charlie Rose show, he argued that this
term, when applied to his work, greatly limited
him and his expectations of what might come of
his writing. So he doesn't like it very much.
I don't like it very much, personally, because,
you know, I'm a writer myself. I don't just do
podcasts, you know. Additionally, he suggested
that all his works are just literary, simply
because they are written in words. And that's
essentially what literary means, or literature
as a whole. But society has started putting labels
on everything, limiting what writers can do.
It hasn't limited their creativity or anything,
but by putting a label on something and putting
a certain fact to it, it has basically limited
what they can do to put their writing into those
said categories just so they can make money.
A lot of people like to write just to write,
but they do need to make money off of it, otherwise
they can't support themselves to do it, which
is like us who make podcasts. Essentially, literary
fiction often involves social commentary, political
criticisms, or reflection on the human condition.
In general, it focuses on the introspective or
in -depth character studies of interesting, complex,
and developed characters. This contrasts with
the genre fiction where the plot is the central
concern. But usually in literary fiction, the
focus is on the inner story of the characters
who drive the plot. detailed motives to elicit
emotional involvement in the reader. The style
of literary fiction is often described as elegantly
written, lyrical, and layered, and the tone of
literary fiction can be darker than the general
genre of fiction. While the pace of literary
fiction may be slower than popular fiction, as
Terrence Raffley noted, Literary fiction, by
its nature, allows itself to dawdle, to linger
on stray beauties even at the risk of losing
its way. And, you know, he's right. But, you
know, again, it's subject to personal thought,
personal appearance, personal reference. It's
up to you. You can see it kind of hit home with
me even a little bit. But again, I mean, it's
these limitations that makes it harder for us
to write. We write because we like writing, and
we know there are people out there that like
listening or reading these authentic, realistic,
newer type of stories. And by putting them into
categories, yeah, people will tend to flock to
more things of that category. But what if you
write a story, like me, that's general fiction
that fits into multiple categories? You can't
simply just put it under one and be done with
it. You know? So, but... That's it for that,
guys. All we have left to cover is literary realism
as far as fiction is concerned. And that'll be
it. So we'll take a short break here, and then
we'll get into it. All right, everybody. Last
but not least, realism. Literary realism. Well,
that's a whole other ballgame right there. But
realism in general or realistic fiction. Let's
go with that. That's the only thing left for
us to cover. So let's go ahead and get into that.
I'm going to try to simplify it as much as I
possibly can. Realistic fiction, which typically
involves a story whose basic setting, time, location,
place in the real world is real and whose events
could feasibly happen in a real life setting.
Non -realistic fiction involves a story where
the opposite is the case. So often being set
in an entirely imaginary universe or alternate
history of the world other than the current.
currently understood as true, or some other non
-existent location or time period, sometimes
even presenting impossible technology or defiance
of the current understood laws of nature. However,
all types of fiction arguably invite their audience
to explore real ideas, issues, possibilities,
anything in an otherwise imaginary setting or
using what is understood about reality to mentally
construct something similar to reality, though
still distinct from it in some way or another.
In terms of traditional separation between fiction
and non -fiction, the lines are now commonly
understood as blurred. I think I mentioned that
earlier. showing more of an overlap nowadays
than neutral exclusion. So even fiction usually
has elements of or grounding it to truth in some
way or another. The distinction between the two
may be best defined from the perspective of the
audience, so it depends on the reader. according
to whom a work is regarded as non -fiction. If
its people, places, and events are all historical
and factually real, while a work is regarded
as fiction, if it deviates from reality in any
of those areas, the distinction between fiction
and non -fiction is further obscured by its understanding
of the person reading it. On one hand, the truth
can be presented through imaginary channels,
constructions, while on the other hand, imagination
can just as well bring about significant conclusions
about what's true and it's reality so I can see
how this would be an issue for some people being
able to essentially tell the difference between
the two because it's so close I mean when Cops
and police officers look at possible scenarios
when they're trying to come up with laws and
regulations. They have to run through the possible
scenario. Yeah, these scenarios are fiction,
but the fact is that they're likely to happen.
So they're realistic, just not possible at the
moment, but entirely possible should the right
situation occur. So can fiction be applied to
reality? Yes. And that's the whole point of realistic
fiction. Literary critic James Wood argued that
fiction is both artifice and versatile. In other
words, it means that it requires both creative
invention as well as some acceptable degree of
believability. A notion often encapsulated in
the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge's terms would
be Willing suspension of. I'm sorry. Willing
suspension of. Disbelief. Also. Creating the
whole thought of. You know. It begs the question.
Do you believe me or not? By providing a situation.
That theoretically could happen. And still founding
it on some level. Of truth. Also. Infinite fictional
possibilities themselves signal the impossibility
of fully knowing what reality it truly dictates
on whether or not it is or not real. How would
I want to say this? It essentially demonstrates
that there is no criterion to measure constructs
of reality. I mean, if you want to talk about
the whole outlines and defines of reality, that's
a whole other podcast right there. You know,
the connotations of what is reality. But, again,
like I said, that's a whole other thing right
there in itself. So, realistic fiction is the
only other part of this that I haven't covered
yet. But, essentially, it just talks about the
whole thin line between what we know as true
and what we know as false. It's just something
to keep in mind when looking into what kind of
writing style you wish to have and what you wish
to cover in the future. I guess one thing I should
definitely point out is that there is a difference,
like I said before, between literary fiction
and genre fiction. But I'll go into that more
depth later. It's a whole... That's a whole other
can of worms on its own. But again, I'd like
to thank all you guys for listening and supporting
my channel as always. I hope you all enjoy the
rest of your day. Please be safe. If you wish
to follow me and learn more about what's going
on or listen to more of my podcasts, check me
out at ReconTowers .com. This is your host, Neogentrix,
signing out. Enjoy the rest of your day.