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Fiction, from the Latin fingere to create, fictum created, is anything imaginatively invented, a feigned existence, event, or state of things. In a second more concrete and basically 20th-century meaning fiction has become the general term uniting all the literary genres that developed with the modern novel.
The history of fiction coincides with much of the history of literature, with each genre of fiction having its own origins and developmental tale. - By form: legends, comics, fables, fairy tales, film, folklure, novels, plays, poetry, serials, short stories, situation comedies, and video games. - By length: flash fiction, short stories, novelettes, novellas, novels, and epic poetry. - By content: pseudohistory, genre fiction, detective fiction, fantasy fiction, mystery fiction, and science fiction. Character A character is any person, persona, identity, or entity that exists in a work of art. Characters may be entirely fictional or based upon real, historical entities. Characters may be human, supernatural, mythical, divine, animal, or personifications of an abstraction. Characterization is the process of creating an image of a person in fiction, complete with that person's traits, features, and motivation. Plot Plot is a sequence of interrelated events arranged to form a logical pattern and achieve an intended effect. It is often designed with a narrative structure or storyline, that includes conflict, rising action, and climax, followed by a falling action and a resolution or dénouement. Setting Setting, the location and time of a story, is sometimes referred to as story world or milieu, to include a context (such as society) beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. In some cases, setting becomes a character itself and can set the tone of a story. Theme The theme of a story is the point the writer wishes to make, a moral or conceptual distillation of the story often posed as a question or human problem. Style Style is not so much what is written, but how it is written. In fiction, style refers to language conventions and literary techniques used to construct a story. The communicative effect created by an author's style is sometimes referred to as the story's voice. Each writer has his or her own unique style, or voice. Age group Fiction may by classified by the age of the intended audience: - Children, as in children's literature Form Traditionally, fiction includes novels, short stories, fables, fairy tales, plays, poetry, but it now also encompasses films, comic books, and video games. Length Fiction may be classified by length: - Flash fiction: A work of fewer than 2,000 words (1,000 by some definitions) (around 5 pages) Content - Amalgamation (fiction) |
