Fiction written as non-fiction?

[WFTW]

I have an idea for a book. While it's fiction, I'd like to write it as though it were non-fiction, as well as classify it as non-fiction. The book idea is a collection of interviews. Since it's fiction, I'd be making up the entire thing.

Here's the thing...I think it would be more shocking/interesting if it were written, classified, and promoted as being non-fiction. Of course, I could interview people from this particular group, but I don't think the book would be as good as if I just wrote it myself.

Kind of think of this as when Blair Witch Project came out. It got a LOT of hype when everyone thought that was real. Of course, it was later revealed it was fake...but still.

Anyhow, is this doable?

The problem I'm having with this at the moment is it seems unethical. If that's the case, then could I just write the book and not promote it as being neither non-fiction or fiction (just never elaborate)?

 

[MarkEsq]

Anyhow, is this doable?

The problem I'm having with this at the moment is it seems unethical. If that's the case, then could I just write the book and not promote it as being neither non-fiction or fiction (just never elaborate)?

If you're going to do it, it needs to be done as above. You absolutely cannot (or should not) write fiction and pretend it's real. Unethical in the extreme. Now, to write fiction as realistically as possible, to fool the public through the realism of your writing... a la Blair Witch, that's fine.

 

[stephenf]

I think art of faking it, is a interesting subject.Orson Welles radio version of The War Of The Worlds was fiction, pretending to be real, and was so convincing the law was changed to prevent anyone from repeating the Idea.Orson Welles benefited from all the publicity .On the other hand Alex Haley's Roots was presented as fact but turned out to be fiction ,added with a bit of plagiarism. Despite the commercial success of Roots ,Alax Haley reputation never recovered.Overall faking is more a criminal activity .I not suggesting that is your intention but fake and fiction have similar meanings ,its the intent behind it that is different.Personally I would stick with fiction.

 

[scarletpeaches]

It worked for Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln.

 

[WFTW]

Ah yes, The War Of The Worlds is another great example.

While I don't want to lie to people, I think if I were not to come out and say "this book is fiction," it would get a lot of publicity. Maybe I could get it released without any mention of it coming out...just one day, bam, there it is on the shelf. The problem is getting it on the right shelf.

When books by famous authors first come out, a lot of times they're not put on a shelf, they have their own special rack. The rack doesn't say "fiction" or "non-fiction," you're just expected to know the author and what they write.

While I'm far from famous, perhaps I could try to get the book presented to the public in this way. I think the title alone would intrigue people enough to at least take a second glance and possibly pick it up. Heck, even the picture I have in my head for the cover of the book is dead on.

When I write the query and proposal, I could just not say anything about it being fiction and see what the agent thinks (of course I would tell the agent it's fiction if they wanted to represent me and the book). It's just such a spooky and twisted subject matter that it would be really fun to write and promote as non-fiction. Ooooh, and if I wrote it as a memoir, that would really freak people out.

Of course, I've still got to write the book, and being hip deep in the two I'm currently writing, it won't be started until the end of this year. But, I was thinking about different aspects of the book and this question came up.

 

[Bubastes]

No. Just, no.

If it's made up, it's fiction. Given the recent snafus of Frey and others, I doubt the publishers' lawyers are going to take any risks on that front.

 

[WFTW]

I get the whole fiction is fiction thing...like I said, I'm not going to lie about it. But if I could just not say anything and put the book out there for people to read, it would be awesome.

There are a few books I've read (fiction) that, as good as they were, would have been SO much better if I thought they were real going into it.

 

[Lauri B]

I think the idea is interesting but it's not how books are sold to publishers. Your agent can't pretend it's nonfiction when pitching to a publisher, and the publisher is going to want to know--especially after the recent debacles of memoirs that turned out to be completely false. Books are also marketed based on their category: self-help, memoir, finance, cookbook, novel, etc. You aren't going to get away with this just by not saying anything. You'll have to lie about it, and lie a lot.

 

[Kathleen42]

To be honest, I never quite understood how people could fall for the Blair Witch Project.

The problem you'll run into with a book, imo, is that (unlike a newly released movie or a radio show) it has to be placed somewhere on the shelf.

You can write it as though it really happened (and it may be more interesting that way) but most* people will catch on as soon as they see it in the fiction section.

*some people will fall for it anyway, just like some people fall for the article The Onion puts out.

 

[DevinPhilips]

The problem I'm having with this at the moment is it seems unethical.

As others have said a publisher or agent will not take on a story that doesn't fit into a fiction/nonfiction category. It has to be one or the other... and they are in no mood for another James Frey.

You could write it as based on a true story... and take liberty from that point.

 

[KikiteNeko]

You can write fiction as though it's nonfiction. There are several books that do this. HOWEVER, it is still classified as fiction. You could write a fake memoir or swear throughout the novel that the story is true. But you cannot sell it as nonfiction because it is fiction.

For more, look up the "Million Little Pieces" guy, and that woman, I forget her name, who claimed to have written her memoir about the holocaust. When it came out that her book was fiction she was in some hot water.

 

[semilargeintestine]

If you're talking about the holocaust book I think you're talking about, the part that was untrue was how they met. I'm not sure why you would make that up when just surviving through the holocaust (which was true) is amazing in and of itself.

 

[KikiteNeko]

While I don't want to lie to people, I think if I were not to come out and say "this book is fiction," it would get a lot of publicity.

Incredibly bad idea. Do not attempt.

 

[M von Uppity]

I agree. Don't do it. You risk all credibility and your entire writing career should anyone feel purposefully mislead by you.

 

[KikiteNeko]

If you're talking about the holocaust book I think you're talking about, the part that was untrue was how they met. I'm not sure why you would make that up when just surviving through the holocaust (which was true) is amazing in and of itself.

No, not that one. There was a story a couple years ago about a woman who had survived the holocaust. The book got her great publicity and some organization even bought her an apartment. Her own agent didn't realize the whole thing was a lie. Somehow it came out that she'd never even seen the holocaust. Shit + fan.

 

[Cybernaught]

Chuck Palahniuk did this with Rant, but I'm not sure it was marketed as Non-Fiction. It was written as a series of interviews.

 

[benbradley]

Others have expressed their reservations, but I see it as a big problem that publishers and bookstores classify all books as either fiction or non-fiction, and it seems an interesting balancing act for an author to get a publisher to classify it as non-fiction without actually coming out and saying "It's non-fiction." I'm just sayin' ...

I was thinking, didn't the Amityville Horror also claim it was true? The all-purpose, don't-reference-this-in-real-life site has answers, often even correct answers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amityville_Horror
The very cover says "A True Story" as if it were (maybe it is) the subtitle.

The legal troubles associated with the story are mentioned starting in the third sentence, on the other hand if your book sells that well and has not one but TWO movies made of it, you can probably afford some good lawyers and still come out ahead.

There are lots of good, "honest" approaches in making a story look real enough that the reader forgets the fiction label and becomes engrossed in the story. Where writing good novels are discussed, I keep reading the word "compelling."

 

[live4themusic]

I know this is a super old thread but I really am surprised no one mentioned the book "Go Ask Alice" (published as anonymous). It was written as a series of diary entries by a young girl as she began using drugs and later had a lot of problems. It was definitely packaged in such a way that the book appeared to be nonfiction, but if you research it online you learn it was after all a fabrication. There were no repercussions for that author though... maybe try something like that?

 

[conspicuouschick]

Yes, but "go ask alice" was published in 1971, and the 'rules' so to speak have changed a lot since then. First, it's a helluva lot easier to find out if someone is lying, and secondly, publishers have burned too many times recently and aren't going to put themselves at risk.

 

[veinglory]

Blair Witch was marketed as fiction, so was the Da Vinci code. The credulous will always get confused anyway. But marketing fiction as fact is just... fraud.

 

[TopSecret]

Ooh, I don't know about this concept of a book. It also brings up a question I've been pondering about facts, and fiction. Once you put it in a book, it sort of becomes fact. I mean who really determines whether something is fact or fiction. When it comes to religious prejudices in textbooks, creationism, medical studies, etc.. How do we know that scientist wasn't a little wacky, how do we know if dinosaurs really romed the earth, or if it was what we were brainwashed to believe. Some things have a grey area of fact/fiction, credibility issues, psychology issues, etc..
Another concept similar to this is writing a non-fiction as a fiction book to avoid legal issues. People know it's non-fiction, but it's classified as fiction.

 

[thothguard51]

Fiction written as non fiction?

Its called Tabloid Journalism.

Carry on...