WEBVTT 00:00:24.329 --> 00:00:26.410 everybody this is food for thought thoughts if 00:00:26.410 --> 00:00:31.390 it were you and this is neogentrics welcome back 00:00:31.390 --> 00:00:36.649 everybody this is season two it is 2021 now i've 00:00:36.649 --> 00:00:38.409 been around for a while i haven't been able to 00:00:38.409 --> 00:00:41.609 upload a lot of episodes like i initially wanted 00:00:41.609 --> 00:00:44.750 to last year but i mean there was so much going 00:00:44.750 --> 00:00:48.030 on there's a lot of debate how everyone was even 00:00:48.030 --> 00:00:49.850 worried about who was going to be the president 00:00:49.850 --> 00:00:55.179 and i must admit That was definitely an issue 00:00:55.179 --> 00:01:00.259 at some point. But with that being said, now, 00:01:00.460 --> 00:01:03.259 of course, we have a new president. It's Joe 00:01:03.259 --> 00:01:06.420 Biden. But what can we do? That hasn't stopped 00:01:06.420 --> 00:01:09.379 me in the slightest. I am still going to go about 00:01:09.379 --> 00:01:11.879 giving you all the same information, the same 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:15.019 historical context, the same stuff that you have 00:01:15.019 --> 00:01:17.659 expected from me for the last two to three years. 00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:21.040 And on top of that, my channel for my retro gaming. 00:01:21.500 --> 00:01:23.180 We'll be starting back up this year as well, 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:27.599 not to mention all my books. So, as my books 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:30.439 come out, I will be giving more information and 00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:34.319 more details on those moving forward. Now, let's 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:37.180 go ahead and go into today's topic of discussion 00:01:37.180 --> 00:01:42.939 that I wish to cover. And the topic is fiction, 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:47.599 or rather, fiction stories as a whole. Okay? 00:01:50.250 --> 00:01:55.209 First question is, what is fiction? What defines 00:01:55.209 --> 00:02:00.510 the terms of fiction as a whole, as far as stories 00:02:00.510 --> 00:02:07.430 go? Fiction stories are generally a narrative 00:02:07.430 --> 00:02:12.250 form in any medium consisting of people, events, 00:02:12.330 --> 00:02:19.990 places, but mostly stuff that's imaginary. Based 00:02:19.990 --> 00:02:25.069 on historical accuracy or fact. In its most narrow 00:02:25.069 --> 00:02:29.090 usage. It's essentially fiction refers to written 00:02:29.090 --> 00:02:33.729 narratives in a prose. Or specifically in novels. 00:02:34.750 --> 00:02:37.289 Or novelles or short stories. Things that people 00:02:37.289 --> 00:02:39.289 tend to write that are shorter than an average 00:02:39.289 --> 00:02:45.530 book. More broadly though. Fiction has come to 00:02:45.530 --> 00:02:49.139 essentially encompass. The imaginary expression 00:02:49.139 --> 00:02:54.639 of any form included, but not limited to just 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.379 writings, but also live theatrical performances 00:02:57.379 --> 00:03:00.960 such as films, TV programs, dramas, radio dramas, 00:03:01.099 --> 00:03:02.840 comics, role -playing, and even video games. 00:03:03.979 --> 00:03:07.800 The whole encompassness of fiction is the whole 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:12.159 theme of your imagination, which brings out its 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:15.020 definition. The work of fiction implies the... 00:03:16.509 --> 00:03:18.930 inventive construction of an imaginary world 00:03:18.930 --> 00:03:23.669 and most commonly its Fictionality is publicly 00:03:23.669 --> 00:03:26.389 acknowledged so its audience typically expects 00:03:26.389 --> 00:03:30.610 to deviate from in some way or somehow From the 00:03:30.610 --> 00:03:33.110 real world rather than presenting only characters 00:03:33.110 --> 00:03:37.250 who actually exist or portray them as factually 00:03:37.250 --> 00:03:40.909 true, okay But you still have to make it somewhat 00:03:40.909 --> 00:03:44.210 believable. So keep that in mind Fiction is generally 00:03:44.210 --> 00:03:49.120 understood as not adhering to the real world, 00:03:49.219 --> 00:03:52.159 which consequently leaves its themes and its 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:56.280 context such as if how it relates to the real 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:58.939 world or real issues open to various interpretations, 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:01.439 like you can think of it however you want. This 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:04.840 is how most of my stories are written. Characters' 00:04:04.860 --> 00:04:07.020 events within fictional works may even exist 00:04:07.020 --> 00:04:09.979 in their own context, entirely separate from 00:04:09.979 --> 00:04:12.560 the known physical universe or an independent 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:16.180 fictional universe that you've created. Most 00:04:16.180 --> 00:04:18.160 of the stories that I write, that's their context. 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:23.199 In contrast, you know, to fiction, it is a traditional 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:26.540 opposite. Nonfiction in which the creator assumes 00:04:26.540 --> 00:04:30.660 responsibility for presenting only the historical 00:04:30.660 --> 00:04:35.319 and factual truth. But I'm not covering nonfiction 00:04:35.319 --> 00:04:39.720 today. Okay. But despite the usual distinction 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:41.920 between fiction and non -fiction, some modern 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:44.500 works blur that boundary, particularly ones that 00:04:44.500 --> 00:04:49.379 fall under a certain experimental genre for storytelling, 00:04:49.579 --> 00:04:52.660 including post -modern fiction, auto -fiction, 00:04:53.019 --> 00:04:57.980 which is still fairly new even now, or creative 00:04:57.980 --> 00:05:03.019 non -fiction. like non -fiction novels and docudramas, 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:07.139 as well as literary frauds, which are falsely 00:05:07.139 --> 00:05:11.740 marked for some reason as non -fiction. None 00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:14.759 of those are non -fiction. All of those are fiction. 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:23.220 But I digress. At any rate, let me take a short 00:05:23.220 --> 00:05:25.819 break here real quick, clear my throat, and we'll 00:05:25.819 --> 00:05:44.610 go into the different formats, shall we? All 00:05:44.610 --> 00:05:48.790 right, everybody, and we're back. So in the last 00:05:48.790 --> 00:05:50.470 segment, we covered the essential definition 00:05:50.470 --> 00:05:53.509 of fiction and, you know, what it incorporates 00:05:53.509 --> 00:05:57.589 or portrays as fiction. And, you know, again, 00:05:57.670 --> 00:05:59.230 to sum it up in a nutshell, it's essentially 00:05:59.230 --> 00:06:02.250 an imaginary world of the construction of the 00:06:02.250 --> 00:06:04.370 creator, the person who came up with it, the 00:06:04.370 --> 00:06:06.310 person who designed it. They still have to give 00:06:06.310 --> 00:06:08.750 some truth, some historical facts and stuff to 00:06:08.750 --> 00:06:10.850 make it enough that it's believable. But it's 00:06:10.850 --> 00:06:12.709 understood that it's fiction and it's acknowledged 00:06:12.709 --> 00:06:16.149 as such. And in today's society, it's a lot easier 00:06:16.149 --> 00:06:18.410 to acknowledge a fictional world and believe 00:06:18.410 --> 00:06:20.589 that to be true than it is to acknowledge the 00:06:20.589 --> 00:06:23.769 real world. Though, at the moment, it may seem 00:06:23.769 --> 00:06:26.110 like non -fiction sells more, and a lot of people 00:06:26.110 --> 00:06:28.189 want to know what's going on lively, but there 00:06:28.189 --> 00:06:31.149 are actually way more people that are more interested 00:06:31.149 --> 00:06:33.550 in the fictional genre than there is non -fiction, 00:06:33.689 --> 00:06:36.350 because they know that, essentially, they've 00:06:36.350 --> 00:06:39.189 come to terms that, rather, that reality sucks, 00:06:39.449 --> 00:06:41.910 it's not going to improve, and they don't like 00:06:41.910 --> 00:06:46.459 people. So, with that being said, fiction has 00:06:46.459 --> 00:06:49.079 basically spawned off into several different 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:53.199 formats, including additional genres as well. 00:06:53.459 --> 00:06:55.420 And I'll cover some of those additional genres 00:06:55.420 --> 00:06:58.899 either later in this episode or in another. So, 00:06:58.899 --> 00:07:02.300 beginning with the formats, you know, traditional 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:04.680 fiction includes, and I'm going to go ahead and 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:08.339 list off some here, novels, short stories, fables, 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:11.579 which I haven't seen very many of anymore. legends, 00:07:11.660 --> 00:07:15.240 myths, fairy tales, epics, and even narrative 00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:20.199 poetry. It still exists in plays, though they're 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:22.980 not as common as they used to be, except during 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:29.899 Shakespearean times and older 1900s eras going 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:33.620 backwards to like the 18th or 17th century. This 00:07:33.620 --> 00:07:36.959 includes operas, musicals, dramas, puppet plays, 00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:39.519 which... I don't remember the last time I've 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:42.600 seen a puppet play. And various kinds of theatrical 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:47.860 dances. Usually when I think of that, your first 00:07:47.860 --> 00:07:50.120 response would be to go to some type of Asian 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:53.339 theater. However, fiction may also encompass 00:07:53.339 --> 00:07:56.379 comic books and many other animated cartoons, 00:07:56.699 --> 00:08:00.360 stop motion, anime, manga, films, video games, 00:08:00.459 --> 00:08:02.579 and even radio programs, and some television 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:04.920 programs as well, such as comedies and dramas. 00:08:05.899 --> 00:08:08.300 The list goes on, but that's just a light summary 00:08:08.300 --> 00:08:14.579 of everything. At any rate, the internet has 00:08:14.579 --> 00:08:17.980 had this major impact on the creation and distribution 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:19.759 of fiction. You can pretty much find it anywhere. 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:23.139 It calls into the question of the feasibility 00:08:23.139 --> 00:08:26.360 of copyright, which means the ability to earn 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:29.300 royalties or even being paid as a copyright holder. 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:33.500 Digital libraries such as Project Gutenberg make 00:08:33.500 --> 00:08:36.460 public domain texts more readily available, so 00:08:36.460 --> 00:08:39.100 the combination of inexpensive home computers, 00:08:39.299 --> 00:08:43.000 internet creativity of its users... I mean, it's 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:45.259 led to new forms of fiction such as interactive 00:08:45.259 --> 00:08:47.620 computer games and even computer -generated comics. 00:08:48.419 --> 00:08:51.419 Which, might I add, are not that much fun to 00:08:51.419 --> 00:08:54.289 read, but they're interesting nonetheless. There 00:08:54.289 --> 00:08:56.269 are countless forums for fanfiction which can 00:08:56.269 --> 00:08:58.769 be found online, which, you know, loyal followers 00:08:58.769 --> 00:09:02.110 of a specific fictional realm, region, genre, 00:09:02.289 --> 00:09:05.789 it's still typically fiction, but they create 00:09:05.789 --> 00:09:08.110 and distribute derivative stories from their 00:09:08.110 --> 00:09:09.950 original hosts, like their take on the whole 00:09:09.950 --> 00:09:12.070 thing, or their possibility on the whole thing. 00:09:12.590 --> 00:09:15.269 The internet is also used for the development 00:09:15.269 --> 00:09:18.230 of blog fiction, where a story is delivered through 00:09:18.230 --> 00:09:20.830 a blog, either as a flash section or a serial 00:09:20.830 --> 00:09:23.570 blog, or even collaborative fiction, where a 00:09:23.570 --> 00:09:26.590 story is written sequentially by different authors, 00:09:26.750 --> 00:09:29.590 or the entire text can be revised by anyone, 00:09:29.789 --> 00:09:33.809 including Wikipedia. So, just something to keep 00:09:33.809 --> 00:09:37.110 in mind. There are different types of literary 00:09:37.110 --> 00:09:41.809 fiction. though that is considered the standard, 00:09:42.009 --> 00:09:46.250 and are distinguished by relative length, and 00:09:46.250 --> 00:09:50.110 they include short fiction, which is basically 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:53.049 the boundary between a long story and a novella, 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:55.730 which is kind of vague, but the short stories 00:09:55.730 --> 00:09:59.929 are commonly fewer than 7 ,500 words or 7 ,500 00:09:59.929 --> 00:10:04.799 words. It's a short story, so, yeah. Then there's 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:07.240 the novella, which I mentioned before. It's essentially 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:12.879 a 17 ,500 word story to about 40 ,000 words at 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:15.960 the most. A good example of stories like this 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:20.519 would be Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:22.679 of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. That came out in 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:26.919 1886, I do believe. And Joseph Conrad's Heart 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:29.460 of Darkness. Now that one came out in 1899. Still 00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:36.419 really, really good stories. they're over 17 00:10:36.419 --> 00:10:41.840 ,500 words, but not quite 40 ,000 words. But 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:43.980 they're clearly over the 7 ,500 word limit, so 00:10:43.980 --> 00:10:46.100 they're not a short story. And then you have 00:10:46.100 --> 00:10:48.659 the standard novels, which are over 40 ,000 words 00:10:48.659 --> 00:10:53.980 or more in length. Okay. So those are the general 00:10:53.980 --> 00:10:57.440 formats that fiction has essentially taken and 00:10:57.440 --> 00:11:02.679 examples of what they are. In the next piece, 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:06.789 we're going to cover what, genre fiction is and 00:11:06.789 --> 00:11:08.669 what it means and what it's broken down into. 00:11:08.850 --> 00:11:10.690 And then we'll follow that up with literary fiction 00:11:10.690 --> 00:11:37.230 and what it encompasses. Okay? All right, everybody. 00:11:37.350 --> 00:11:42.190 And we're back. So let's go ahead and discuss 00:11:42.190 --> 00:11:46.470 the genre of fiction. Like I mentioned before, 00:11:46.549 --> 00:11:48.950 fiction is commonly broken down into a variety 00:11:48.950 --> 00:11:51.870 of different genres. You know, subsets of fiction, 00:11:51.970 --> 00:11:54.750 if you will. Each differentiated by a particular 00:11:54.750 --> 00:11:59.789 unifying tone or style or setting. A set of narrative 00:11:59.789 --> 00:12:05.379 techniques or archetypes or tropes. media content 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:09.220 or either popularity defined by a certain criterion 00:12:09.220 --> 00:12:11.980 that it follows. For example, science fiction. 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:15.360 It predicts or supposes technologies that are 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:18.899 not based in the reality at the time of the work's 00:12:18.899 --> 00:12:22.799 creation. An example of that would be Jules Verne's 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:26.019 novel From the Earth to the Moon. That was published 00:12:26.019 --> 00:12:33.320 in 1865. 1969 astronaut Neil Armstrong and Buzz 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:36.879 Aldrin became the first persons to land on the 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:40.879 moon. The book came out before the initial attempt 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:44.820 to reach the moon. So while that story had its 00:12:44.820 --> 00:12:48.360 set theme, when the actual thing occurred, there 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:51.639 was some clear differences between the two. Then 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:53.679 there's another category, historical fiction, 00:12:53.860 --> 00:12:56.799 which places imaginary characters into real historical 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:02.740 events. In 1814, historical novel Waverly Sir 00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:06.860 Walter Scott's fictional character, Edward Waverly, 00:13:06.940 --> 00:13:13.519 meets a figure from history, Bonnie Prince Charlie, 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:18.580 and takes part in the Battle of the, what was 00:13:18.580 --> 00:13:24.509 it, Prestipans, I think that's what it is. Some 00:13:24.509 --> 00:13:27.549 works of fiction are slightly or greatly reimagined 00:13:27.549 --> 00:13:31.210 based on some original true story or constructed 00:13:31.210 --> 00:13:34.889 biography. Often when fictional story is based 00:13:34.889 --> 00:13:40.250 on fact, there will be additions and subtractions 00:13:40.250 --> 00:13:42.210 from the true story to make it more interesting. 00:13:42.370 --> 00:13:47.450 An example of this would be Tim O 'Brien's The 00:13:47.450 --> 00:13:51.029 Things They Carried. It's a 1990s series of short 00:13:51.029 --> 00:13:54.580 stories about the Vietnam War. Super popular, 00:13:54.600 --> 00:14:01.299 by the way, but again, really, really good. Then 00:14:01.299 --> 00:14:06.179 there's the fictional works that involve, explicitly 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:09.659 involve supernatural, magical, or scientifical 00:14:09.659 --> 00:14:13.159 possibilities. Those are often classified under 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:15.960 the genre of fantasy, including Lewis Carroll's 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:20.360 1864 novel, the fable well -known Alice's Adventures 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:23.009 in Wonderland. because everyone knows Alice Adventures 00:14:23.009 --> 00:14:28.009 in Wonderland, or the more popular J .K. Rowling's 00:14:28.009 --> 00:14:31.730 Harry Potter series, or J .R .R. Tolkien's The 00:14:31.730 --> 00:14:35.110 Lord of the Rings. Those fall into the category 00:14:35.110 --> 00:14:37.830 of fantasy. Creators of fantasy sometimes introduce 00:14:37.830 --> 00:14:40.870 imaginary creatures, beings such as dragons and 00:14:40.870 --> 00:14:43.049 fairies, to help bring about what they're talking 00:14:43.049 --> 00:14:47.350 about. Now, the genre of fiction itself is... 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:50.720 pretty big thing to cover. And like I said, it 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:53.039 has many sub -genres. And that's something that 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:59.600 I'll have to come back to because it's really 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:03.340 in -depth and it covers more than the standard. 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:05.899 So if I don't get to it in this episode, I'll 00:15:05.899 --> 00:15:08.340 definitely come back to it in another subsequent 00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:12.919 episode as a bonus. But genre fictions are known 00:15:12.919 --> 00:15:15.960 as popular fictions. It's a term used in the 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:20.080 trade book a book trade, sorry, for fictional 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:23.000 works written with the intent of fitting into 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:25.580 a specific literary genre in order to appeal 00:15:25.580 --> 00:15:28.960 to readers and fans already familiar with that 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:30.879 genre. There are a number of literary figures 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:35.179 who have written fiction in that type of genre. 00:15:35.700 --> 00:15:38.460 I named a few already. There are others like 00:15:38.460 --> 00:15:41.419 John Vanville, who publishes crime novels as 00:15:41.419 --> 00:15:45.519 Benjamin Black. And both Doris Lessing and Margaret 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:47.779 Atwood have written science fiction as well. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:52.279 George Sim... How do you say this guy's name? 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:55.919 Simenon, the creator of the Migrant Detective 00:15:55.919 --> 00:16:00.179 novels. I mean, they've done really, really well. 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:04.019 And these genres that they write into are really, 00:16:04.019 --> 00:16:08.419 really popular. Now, before I end this and move 00:16:08.419 --> 00:16:12.490 forward with the rest of what fiction is... Like 00:16:12.490 --> 00:16:14.509 I said, I'll come back and cover the genres of 00:16:14.509 --> 00:16:17.049 fiction. But the main genres of fiction are crime, 00:16:17.090 --> 00:16:20.389 fantasy, romance, science fiction, western, inspirational. 00:16:20.929 --> 00:16:24.029 That's apparently fiction. Historical fiction 00:16:24.029 --> 00:16:27.990 and horror. Now, those I'll come back into cover 00:16:27.990 --> 00:16:32.309 more readily later. But I want to start off by 00:16:32.309 --> 00:16:36.549 at least introducing the whole continuity and 00:16:36.549 --> 00:16:40.190 genre of fiction as a whole. Now, more commercially, 00:16:40.409 --> 00:16:43.870 oriented genre fiction has been dismissed by 00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:49.029 literary critics as poorly written, but it doesn't 00:16:49.029 --> 00:16:52.009 change the fact that it's still there. So, like 00:16:52.009 --> 00:16:54.409 I said, I'll come back and talk about the history 00:16:54.409 --> 00:16:57.889 of genres and all the different genres, but essentially 00:16:57.889 --> 00:17:00.370 right now I just want to cover, you know, what 00:17:00.370 --> 00:17:20.579 is fiction. Okay, there's not really much left 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:23.400 there to cover as far as fiction is concerned, 00:17:23.579 --> 00:17:27.140 but we do have the next section that I would 00:17:27.140 --> 00:17:29.500 like to cover and get straight to the point. 00:17:29.640 --> 00:17:33.119 Now, literature as a whole is a whole other topic, 00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:36.539 a whole other debacle. Something else to look 00:17:36.539 --> 00:17:38.920 into more depth, but one of the things I want 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:42.420 to touch on in this episode that I may go into 00:17:42.420 --> 00:17:44.420 more detail later when I cover genre fiction 00:17:44.420 --> 00:17:48.230 is literary fiction. That's a term used in the 00:17:48.230 --> 00:17:50.470 book trade to distinguish novels that are regarded 00:17:50.470 --> 00:17:57.390 as having literary merit for most commercial 00:17:57.390 --> 00:18:02.490 or, as they claim, genre fiction. An example 00:18:02.490 --> 00:18:04.990 of what I'm talking about would be Neal Stephenson. 00:18:05.250 --> 00:18:08.470 He has suggested that while any definition would 00:18:08.470 --> 00:18:12.789 be simplistic, there is today a general culture 00:18:12.789 --> 00:18:14.869 difference between literary and genre fiction, 00:18:15.029 --> 00:18:18.680 apparently. On one hand, literary authors nowadays 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:23.119 are frequently supported by patronage, with employment 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:28.039 at a university or a similar institution. And 00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:31.480 with the continuation of such positions determined 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:36.480 not by book sales, but by critical acclaim by 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:40.079 other established literary authors and critics. 00:18:40.299 --> 00:18:42.900 On the other hand, we... You know, he suggests 00:18:42.900 --> 00:18:45.200 that genre fiction writers tend to support themselves 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:48.920 by book sales. However, in the interview with, 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:52.660 like, John Updike, he lamented that the category 00:18:52.660 --> 00:18:54.980 of literary fiction has sprung up recently to 00:18:54.980 --> 00:18:58.640 torment people like me who just set out to write 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:00.960 books, and if anybody wanted to read them, terrific, 00:19:01.299 --> 00:19:04.039 the more the merrier. You know, I'm a genre writer 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:07.720 of a sort. I write literary fiction, which is 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:12.750 like spy fiction or chick lit. You know, likewise, 00:19:12.869 --> 00:19:16.309 on the Charlie Rose show, he argued that this 00:19:16.309 --> 00:19:18.849 term, when applied to his work, greatly limited 00:19:18.849 --> 00:19:21.049 him and his expectations of what might come of 00:19:21.049 --> 00:19:23.490 his writing. So he doesn't like it very much. 00:19:23.509 --> 00:19:25.809 I don't like it very much, personally, because, 00:19:25.950 --> 00:19:27.650 you know, I'm a writer myself. I don't just do 00:19:27.650 --> 00:19:32.789 podcasts, you know. Additionally, he suggested 00:19:32.789 --> 00:19:35.210 that all his works are just literary, simply 00:19:35.210 --> 00:19:37.950 because they are written in words. And that's 00:19:37.950 --> 00:19:40.450 essentially what literary means, or literature 00:19:40.450 --> 00:19:43.589 as a whole. But society has started putting labels 00:19:43.589 --> 00:19:48.049 on everything, limiting what writers can do. 00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:50.410 It hasn't limited their creativity or anything, 00:19:50.670 --> 00:19:53.009 but by putting a label on something and putting 00:19:53.009 --> 00:19:56.049 a certain fact to it, it has basically limited 00:19:56.049 --> 00:19:59.369 what they can do to put their writing into those 00:19:59.369 --> 00:20:01.430 said categories just so they can make money. 00:20:02.509 --> 00:20:04.630 A lot of people like to write just to write, 00:20:04.690 --> 00:20:06.390 but they do need to make money off of it, otherwise 00:20:06.390 --> 00:20:08.029 they can't support themselves to do it, which 00:20:08.029 --> 00:20:12.759 is like us who make podcasts. Essentially, literary 00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:15.240 fiction often involves social commentary, political 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:18.900 criticisms, or reflection on the human condition. 00:20:19.019 --> 00:20:22.740 In general, it focuses on the introspective or 00:20:22.740 --> 00:20:25.960 in -depth character studies of interesting, complex, 00:20:26.019 --> 00:20:28.579 and developed characters. This contrasts with 00:20:28.579 --> 00:20:30.900 the genre fiction where the plot is the central 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:35.039 concern. But usually in literary fiction, the 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:37.180 focus is on the inner story of the characters 00:20:37.180 --> 00:20:42.630 who drive the plot. detailed motives to elicit 00:20:42.630 --> 00:20:45.430 emotional involvement in the reader. The style 00:20:45.430 --> 00:20:48.210 of literary fiction is often described as elegantly 00:20:48.210 --> 00:20:53.549 written, lyrical, and layered, and the tone of 00:20:53.549 --> 00:20:56.710 literary fiction can be darker than the general 00:20:56.710 --> 00:20:59.849 genre of fiction. While the pace of literary 00:20:59.849 --> 00:21:03.750 fiction may be slower than popular fiction, as 00:21:03.750 --> 00:21:06.900 Terrence Raffley noted, Literary fiction, by 00:21:06.900 --> 00:21:10.099 its nature, allows itself to dawdle, to linger 00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:13.420 on stray beauties even at the risk of losing 00:21:13.420 --> 00:21:17.440 its way. And, you know, he's right. But, you 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:22.279 know, again, it's subject to personal thought, 00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:25.019 personal appearance, personal reference. It's 00:21:25.019 --> 00:21:30.380 up to you. You can see it kind of hit home with 00:21:30.380 --> 00:21:33.410 me even a little bit. But again, I mean, it's 00:21:33.410 --> 00:21:35.190 these limitations that makes it harder for us 00:21:35.190 --> 00:21:37.589 to write. We write because we like writing, and 00:21:37.589 --> 00:21:38.869 we know there are people out there that like 00:21:38.869 --> 00:21:41.750 listening or reading these authentic, realistic, 00:21:41.970 --> 00:21:44.289 newer type of stories. And by putting them into 00:21:44.289 --> 00:21:46.630 categories, yeah, people will tend to flock to 00:21:46.630 --> 00:21:49.170 more things of that category. But what if you 00:21:49.170 --> 00:21:50.990 write a story, like me, that's general fiction 00:21:50.990 --> 00:21:53.809 that fits into multiple categories? You can't 00:21:53.809 --> 00:21:56.529 simply just put it under one and be done with 00:21:56.529 --> 00:22:01.500 it. You know? So, but... That's it for that, 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:05.380 guys. All we have left to cover is literary realism 00:22:05.380 --> 00:22:08.420 as far as fiction is concerned. And that'll be 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:11.720 it. So we'll take a short break here, and then 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:32.440 we'll get into it. All right, everybody. Last 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:37.579 but not least, realism. Literary realism. Well, 00:22:37.779 --> 00:22:41.960 that's a whole other ballgame right there. But 00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:45.920 realism in general or realistic fiction. Let's 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:49.160 go with that. That's the only thing left for 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:51.099 us to cover. So let's go ahead and get into that. 00:22:52.140 --> 00:22:54.819 I'm going to try to simplify it as much as I 00:22:54.819 --> 00:23:00.890 possibly can. Realistic fiction, which typically 00:23:00.890 --> 00:23:03.910 involves a story whose basic setting, time, location, 00:23:03.970 --> 00:23:08.589 place in the real world is real and whose events 00:23:08.589 --> 00:23:11.309 could feasibly happen in a real life setting. 00:23:13.369 --> 00:23:16.650 Non -realistic fiction involves a story where 00:23:16.650 --> 00:23:20.730 the opposite is the case. So often being set 00:23:20.730 --> 00:23:24.529 in an entirely imaginary universe or alternate 00:23:24.529 --> 00:23:26.789 history of the world other than the current. 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:31.759 currently understood as true, or some other non 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:33.900 -existent location or time period, sometimes 00:23:33.900 --> 00:23:38.160 even presenting impossible technology or defiance 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:40.299 of the current understood laws of nature. However, 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:44.299 all types of fiction arguably invite their audience 00:23:44.299 --> 00:23:49.059 to explore real ideas, issues, possibilities, 00:23:49.420 --> 00:23:54.559 anything in an otherwise imaginary setting or 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:57.039 using what is understood about reality to mentally 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:04.099 construct something similar to reality, though 00:24:04.099 --> 00:24:06.640 still distinct from it in some way or another. 00:24:06.859 --> 00:24:10.559 In terms of traditional separation between fiction 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:13.900 and non -fiction, the lines are now commonly 00:24:13.900 --> 00:24:16.500 understood as blurred. I think I mentioned that 00:24:16.500 --> 00:24:20.220 earlier. showing more of an overlap nowadays 00:24:20.220 --> 00:24:23.359 than neutral exclusion. So even fiction usually 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:28.160 has elements of or grounding it to truth in some 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:30.359 way or another. The distinction between the two 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:33.000 may be best defined from the perspective of the 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:36.279 audience, so it depends on the reader. according 00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:39.220 to whom a work is regarded as non -fiction. If 00:24:39.220 --> 00:24:41.420 its people, places, and events are all historical 00:24:41.420 --> 00:24:43.380 and factually real, while a work is regarded 00:24:43.380 --> 00:24:46.559 as fiction, if it deviates from reality in any 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:49.480 of those areas, the distinction between fiction 00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:54.140 and non -fiction is further obscured by its understanding 00:24:54.140 --> 00:24:58.559 of the person reading it. On one hand, the truth 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:00.440 can be presented through imaginary channels, 00:25:00.740 --> 00:25:05.490 constructions, while on the other hand, imagination 00:25:05.490 --> 00:25:09.789 can just as well bring about significant conclusions 00:25:09.789 --> 00:25:14.750 about what's true and it's reality so I can see 00:25:14.750 --> 00:25:17.829 how this would be an issue for some people being 00:25:17.829 --> 00:25:20.509 able to essentially tell the difference between 00:25:20.509 --> 00:25:24.819 the two because it's so close I mean when Cops 00:25:24.819 --> 00:25:26.700 and police officers look at possible scenarios 00:25:26.700 --> 00:25:28.240 when they're trying to come up with laws and 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:30.220 regulations. They have to run through the possible 00:25:30.220 --> 00:25:32.279 scenario. Yeah, these scenarios are fiction, 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:34.720 but the fact is that they're likely to happen. 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:41.920 So they're realistic, just not possible at the 00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:45.339 moment, but entirely possible should the right 00:25:45.339 --> 00:25:49.039 situation occur. So can fiction be applied to 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:51.640 reality? Yes. And that's the whole point of realistic 00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:57.240 fiction. Literary critic James Wood argued that 00:25:57.240 --> 00:26:05.440 fiction is both artifice and versatile. In other 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:08.299 words, it means that it requires both creative 00:26:08.299 --> 00:26:11.539 invention as well as some acceptable degree of 00:26:11.539 --> 00:26:16.480 believability. A notion often encapsulated in 00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:21.220 the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge's terms would 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:28.470 be Willing suspension of. I'm sorry. Willing 00:26:28.470 --> 00:26:34.529 suspension of. Disbelief. Also. Creating the 00:26:34.529 --> 00:26:40.410 whole thought of. You know. It begs the question. 00:26:40.470 --> 00:26:44.630 Do you believe me or not? By providing a situation. 00:26:44.769 --> 00:26:47.710 That theoretically could happen. And still founding 00:26:47.710 --> 00:26:53.630 it on some level. Of truth. Also. Infinite fictional 00:26:53.630 --> 00:26:56.670 possibilities themselves signal the impossibility 00:26:56.670 --> 00:27:01.309 of fully knowing what reality it truly dictates 00:27:01.309 --> 00:27:07.769 on whether or not it is or not real. How would 00:27:07.769 --> 00:27:10.390 I want to say this? It essentially demonstrates 00:27:10.390 --> 00:27:13.349 that there is no criterion to measure constructs 00:27:13.349 --> 00:27:16.630 of reality. I mean, if you want to talk about 00:27:16.630 --> 00:27:18.950 the whole outlines and defines of reality, that's 00:27:18.950 --> 00:27:23.220 a whole other podcast right there. You know, 00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:28.299 the connotations of what is reality. But, again, 00:27:28.420 --> 00:27:31.680 like I said, that's a whole other thing right 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:37.079 there in itself. So, realistic fiction is the 00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:39.339 only other part of this that I haven't covered 00:27:39.339 --> 00:27:42.279 yet. But, essentially, it just talks about the 00:27:42.279 --> 00:27:46.240 whole thin line between what we know as true 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:50.299 and what we know as false. It's just something 00:27:50.299 --> 00:27:56.519 to keep in mind when looking into what kind of 00:27:56.519 --> 00:27:59.400 writing style you wish to have and what you wish 00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:04.740 to cover in the future. I guess one thing I should 00:28:04.740 --> 00:28:06.859 definitely point out is that there is a difference, 00:28:06.920 --> 00:28:09.319 like I said before, between literary fiction 00:28:09.319 --> 00:28:12.539 and genre fiction. But I'll go into that more 00:28:12.539 --> 00:28:18.180 depth later. It's a whole... That's a whole other 00:28:18.180 --> 00:28:24.660 can of worms on its own. But again, I'd like 00:28:24.660 --> 00:28:26.680 to thank all you guys for listening and supporting 00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:29.980 my channel as always. I hope you all enjoy the 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:33.019 rest of your day. Please be safe. If you wish 00:28:33.019 --> 00:28:34.579 to follow me and learn more about what's going 00:28:34.579 --> 00:28:37.440 on or listen to more of my podcasts, check me 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:41.240 out at ReconTowers .com. This is your host, Neogentrix, 00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:44.720 signing out. Enjoy the rest of your day.