I think that in life, truth is often stranger than fiction
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All novels are a lie. A product of someone's imagination. But most books on fiction are based on the authors experiences and observations. It's impossible for an author to write without giving away parts of himself. The truth may be stranger than fiction, but most fiction is about real life and grounded in reality.
Take the period I write about, for example. Odd things happen in wartime, and during the Peninsular war (1808-1814) plenty of almost unbelievable things happened. In films we've all seen bullets being stopped by items carried in the intended victims pockets and thought 'oh yeah?' In Spain and Portugal it was a regular occurrence, recorded in participants' diaries. In one incident, an infantryman was knocked over by a cannonball and cried out that he was dying, only to be informed he was, in fact, only winded and the ball was lodged in his pack!
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Put that in a book and you'd be accused of writing fantasy :)
All novels are a lie. A product of someone's imagination. But most books on fiction are based on the authors experiences and observations. It's impossible for an author to write without giving away parts of himself. The truth may be stranger than fiction, but most fiction is about real life and grounded in reality.
This is true, and it's sometimes a nuisance.
Take the period I write about, for example. Odd things happen in wartime, and during the Peninsular war (1808-1814) plenty of almost unbelievable things happened. In films we've all seen bullets being stopped by items carried in the intended victims pockets and thought 'oh yeah?' In Spain and Portugal it was a regular occurrence, recorded in participants' diaries. In one incident, an infantryman was knocked over by a cannonball and cried out that he was dying, only to be informed he was, in fact, only winded and the ball was lodged in his pack!
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Put that in a book and you'd be accused of writing fantasy :)
That's what people say and I think it's because of something I heard once
"The main different between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense"