<p>I know there are several great writers on these boards (or aspiring writers ) and I need help. Yes, I am an older returning student :o</p>
<p>My project is for a class in which the topic is the line between fiction/nonfiction. Our prof created the class before the Million Little Pieces uproar, btw.
I am doing OK with my own writing (surprisingly!), but the project I need help with is something else. We have to choose a work, which I have done, but I don’t know how to go about researching how much of it is fiction…how much is based on what really happened. I have no idea how to contact the author(s) and doubt that is even feasible. </p>
<p>Has anybody ever done something like this and do you have any tips? </p>
<p>say for instance it is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, there is a lot written about it</p>
<p>did you pick a buck that is History but more on the lines of a novel in its presentation?</p>
<p>I think what to do is read the book and say, start a timeline of events that took place, list the characters and what they have done, with dates, etc</p>
<p>Often an author will make up conversations, events etc, or embellish themin order to enliven the story and to show how the events could have happened</p>
<p>Think of the movie JFK or Munich</p>
<p>Or the events surrounding Apollo 13</p>
<p>What kind of book is it? You can pm me if you want</p>
<p>and good for you for going back to school!!! any cute guys?</p>
<p>DrDrewsmom - like CGM, don’t know which book you chose. But if it’s a book that was/is popular, you could try checking reviews of the book. If someone didn’t like the book, they are bound to point out areas where the book may have been incorrect. If it was every made into a movie, you can often find such comments on accuracy/inaccuracy in the movie reviews also. Good luck!</p>
<p>You could also see if there are conversations quoted verbatim where there is no way there could have recordings/notes taken. And look to see how detailed the footnotes, bibliography, etc., are.</p>
<p>What book are you doing? We’re all agog with wondering!</p>
<p>Sorry, I guess it’s not really a secret!
The book is the Nanny Diaries. Mental fluff, I know; but I thought it was a great example of the fuzzy line between fiction and nonfiction.</p>
<p>Somethings I think they needed to change, obvioully, were locations, for example it might be a ballet class and not just a dance class, or an spanish class instead of french, little changes to protect thos involved, especially the children, you could discuss why things had to be masked, altered</p>
<p>As well, you could talk about how this book being non-fiction to a degree, how it made people think about nannies and their employers, the dicussions that followed, the defensiveness of people that employ nannies, nannies, saying, hey yeah, that is so true, </p>
<p>After In Cold Blood, it changed how people approached writing true crime stories, in that novel form. Same for the Diary phenomenom.</p>
<p>If the writers had just said told little stories with no cohesiveness, the punch wouldn’t have been so strong</p>
<p>I saw one of the authors (the only author?) interviewed, and she talked about fictionalizing for the book. If you could go online and find a transcript or video of such an interview, that would be an excellent source of information for your particular title.</p>
<p>DrDrewsmom - I suppose they’ve had a lot of interviews. I saw one on the Today Show, and it’s possible you could get an archived version from the website.</p>
<p>Looking at the assignment, it seems more about the students exploring their own thoughts about the blurring of the lines between fictional and reality, rather than a forensic-style analysis of the actual facts/non-facts in the work.</p>
) and I need help. Yes, I am an older returning student :o</p>