Editing Non-fiction (section)

==Distinctions==
The numerous [[narrative technique]]s used within fiction are generally thought inappropriate for use in non-fiction. They are still present particularly in older works, but are often muted so as not to overshadow the information within the work. Simplicity, clarity, and directness are some of the most important considerations when producing non-fiction. Audience is important in any artistic or descriptive endeavour, but it is perhaps most important in non-fiction. In fiction, the writer believes that readers will make an effort to follow and interpret an indirectly or abstractly presented progression of theme, whereas the production of non-fiction has more to do with the direct provision of information. Understanding of the potential readers' use for the work and their existing knowledge of a subject are both fundamental for effective non-fiction. Despite the claim to truth of non-fiction, it is often necessary to persuade the reader to agree with the ideas and so a balanced, coherent, and informed argument is vital. However, the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction are continually blurred and argued upon, especially in the field of [[biography]];<ref name="The Art of Life">{{cite web|last=The Institute of Art and Ideas|title=The Art of Life|url=http://iai.tv/video/the-art-of-life|publisher=IAI|access-date=14 January 2014|archive-date=26 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626130913/https://iai.tv/video/the-art-of-life|url-status=live}}</ref> as [[Virginia Woolf]] said: "if we think of truth as something of granite-like solidity and of personality as something of rainbow-like intangibility and reflect that the aim of biography is to weld these two into one seamless whole, we shall admit that the problem is a stiff one and that we need not wonder if biographers, for the most part failed to solve it."<ref>{{cite book|last=Woolf|first=Virginia|title=Orlando|year=2010|publisher=Aziloth Books|isbn=978-1907523687|pages=134}}</ref>

Including information that the author knows to be untrue within such works is usually regarded as dishonest. Still, certain kinds of written works can legitimately be either fiction or non-fiction, such as journals of self-expression, [[Letter (message)|letter]]s, [[magazine]] articles, and other expressions of imagination. Though they are mostly either one or the other, a blend of both is also possible. Some fiction may include non-fictional elements; [[semi-fiction]] is fiction implementing a great deal of non-fiction,<ref>[https://ssrn.com/abstract=981296 The Role of Narrative Fiction and Semi-Fiction in Organizational Studies] G. Whiteman. N. Phillips. 13 2006, 12</ref> (such as a fictional description based on a true story). Some non-fiction may include elements of unverified [[supposition]], [[Deductive reasoning|deduction]], or [[imagination]] for the purpose of smoothing out a [[narrative]], but the inclusion of open falsehoods would discredit it as a work of non-fiction. The [[publishing]] and [[bookselling]] businesses sometimes use the phrase "[[literary non-fiction]]" to distinguish works with a more literary or intellectual bent, as opposed to the bulk of non-fiction subjects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Penguin Press |url=http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishers/adult/penguinpress.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213211558/http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishers/adult/penguinpress.html |archive-date=Feb 13, 2014 |website=Penguin Group (USA)}}</ref>