Comments on: Jim Shepard On the Subject of Fiction Based on Non-Fiction

By: John Sockston

John Sockston — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:38:09 +0000

I much enjoyed this!

By: Jeremy Brush

Jeremy Brush — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:22:39 +0000

Between me and my wife we would have to say this is an awful informative post that should get mentioning elsewhere. This is for 2 types of people: current writers who are considering a other position, and people trying to decide to become a writer.

By: Fiction Writers Review » Blog Archive » Jim Shepard on Using History in Fiction

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:56:09 +0000

[...] at The Outlet, Jim Shepard has a great essay on working with historical events in fiction: Writers shouldn’t lose sight of the essential chutzpah involved in trying to imagine any other [...]

By: HTMLGIANT / Creative Writing 101

HTMLGIANT / Creative Writing 101 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:24:19 +0000

[...] DISCUSSED THIS WEEK: “Ancestral Legacies,” “On the Subject of Fiction Based on Non-Ficton,” and “The Gun Lobby” – all by Jim [...]

By: Bites: Fiction v. Non-Fiction, Poe’s Funeral, Proust’s Questions, Lev Grossman on being a critic, Wild Things, Hornby’s Education, Nick Cave & PJ Harvey « Vol. 1 Brooklyn

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:00:55 +0000

[...] fiction based on non-fiction: “We need to bear in mind, as we’ve been told many times, that we’re working from, but not necessarily about, our [...]

By: Rob Mientjes

Rob Mientjes — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:55:30 +0000

I’ve always read this logic in the statement, “write what you know”. It’s trite, but I just read it as, “write about what is in your head or can be perceived by yourself”. Anything above and beyond it is going to suck as a story.

By: HTMLGIANT / Creative Writing 101

HTMLGIANT / Creative Writing 101 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:06:59 +0000

[...] Tibet in search of the Yeti. I attached to the back of the handout Jim’s short essay from the Electric Literature blog about writing fiction based on non-fiction. I hope that it will sort of bridge the gap between [...]

By: Kellie

Kellie — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:42:20 +0000

Very nicely said. I have spiraled into this worry:

The first worry writers have when they consider working with something like historical events has to do with the issue of authority: as in, where do I get off writing about that?

so many times, that it’s a wonder sometimes that I manage to continue. But there comes a point where you have to stop questioning, take a breath, and do. Thanks for the reminder.

By: Kyle Minor

Kyle Minor — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:00:38 +0000

Well said, Jim!

By: Renee Thompson

Renee Thompson — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:15:23 +0000

Your point is well taken, Jim. As a writer of historical fiction, I sometimes worry readers will call me on a fact (there will always be someone out there who knows more than I do, so this is an inherent torture), but more often I’ve found I’m confounded by the inclination of some readers to apply 21st-century sensibilities to 19th-century stories. To stand up for stories we’ve written — tales that in some way have affected us deeply, does indeed take chutzpah, and sometimes, a good-sized chunk of our hearts. So yes. Pay attention, tell the tale, then stick up for yourself when that voice inside (or some other dope) asks, “Who do you think you are?”