Topic outline of fiction

Fiction, a form of entertainment, is the art of story telling, an imaginative form of narrative, one of the four basic rhetorical modes. Although the word fiction is derived from the Latin "fingere", "to form, create", works of fiction need not be entirely imaginary and may include real people, places, and events. Fiction may be conveyed through writing, speech, by performance, or through visual media like movies or TV. The ability to create fiction and other artistic works is a fundamental aspect of human culture and one of the defining characteristics of humanity.

The following topic outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to fiction:

Essence of fiction

Branches of fiction

Forms of fiction

* Novels
* Short stories
* Fables
* Fairy tales
* Plays
* Poems
* Films
* Comics
* Video games

Scope of a fictional work

* Flash fiction - A work of fewer than 2,000 words. (1,000 by some definitions) (around 5 pages)
* Short story - A work of at least 2,000 words but under 7,500 words. (between about 10 and 40 pages)
* Novelette - A work of at least 7,500 words but under 17,500 words. (40-90 pages)
* Novella - A work of at least 17,500 words but under 60,000 words. (90-300 pages)
* Novel - A work of 60,000 words or more. (about 300+ pages)
* Epic - A work of 200,000 words or more. (about 1000+ pages)Fact|date=February 2007 [Counting a page roughly as 200 words.] [A professional writer usually writes an average of 500-1000 words per day. Stephen King stated he writes an average of 2000 words per day, every day.fact|date=October 2007]

Fiction genres

* Detective fiction
* Fantasy fiction
* Mystery fiction
* Science fiction

History of fiction

* Legend
* History of folklore
* History of literature
* History of science fiction

Basic fiction concepts

Elements of fiction

* Characterization - see also fictional character
**Point-of-view character - the character from whom the story is viewed.
**Protagonist - the main character of a story
**Antagonist - the character that stands in opposition to the protagonist
**Supporting character - A character that plays a part in the plot but is not major
**Minor character - a character in a bit/cameo part
* Plot
* Setting
* Theme
* Style
* Allegory
* Symbolism
* Tone

Some famous authors of fiction

Fantasy fiction authors

* Piers Anthony
* Julian May
* J.K. Rowling
* J. R. R. Tolkien
* Stephanie Meyer

Horror fiction authors

* Stephen King
* R.L Stine

Science fiction authors

* Isaac Asimov
* Arthur C. Clarke
* Robert A. Heinlein
* Frank Herbert

Comic authors

* Jean Giraud
* Stan Lee
* Will Eisner

Fiction lists

* List of fictional animals
* List of fictional companies
* List of fictional crossovers
* List of fictional institutions
* List of fictional locations
* List of fictional media
* List of fictional species

*
*
*

See also

*Fictional character
*Plot (narrative)
*Setting (literature)
*Theme (literature)
*Style (fiction)
*Writing style
*Fiction writing
*Pseudohistory

External links

* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiction-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=62 Amazon.co.uk - Fiction]

Footnotes