--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no longer any such thing as…" description: "\"There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there's only narrative.\" — E. L. Doctorow" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/e-l-doctorow-4627_fiction_there-is-no-longer-any-such-thing-as-fic_950463.png" --- # There is no longer any such thing as fiction or… ![“There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there's only narrative.” quote by E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/e-l-doctorow-4627_fiction_there-is-no-longer-any-such-thing-as-fic_950463.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/e-l-doctorow-4627_fiction_there-is-no-longer-any-such-thing-as-fic_950463.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/e-l-doctorow-4627_fiction_there-is-no-longer-any-such-thing-as-fic_950463.png) > “There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there's only narrative.” [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The distinction between factual and imagined storytelling has collapsed; all writing constructs a narrative reality. **In simple terms:** All writing creates stories, whether factual or imagined. Key Takeaway Recognize the narrative shape of any text. Themes storytelling truth perception Mood reflective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - journalism - novels - academic papers - advertising - social media Key Concepts constructivism postmodernism Questions to Reflect On - How does labeling affect credibility? - Can we ever separate fact from story? A Different Perspective Narratives can be manipulated to obscure facts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Nonfiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-nonfiction-524979/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Nonfiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonfiction/) [Nonfiction Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonfiction-narrative-1690470/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Thing Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-fiction-1064911/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [At least for me, it takes more knowledge to write fiction than nonfiction. At least about someplace that I begin with a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/at-least-for-me-it-takes-more-knowledge-to-write-fiction-than/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [The competitions between fiction and nonfiction, short and long, electronic and paper, are not battles in which there can be only one victor. After…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celeste-ng/the-competitions-between-fiction-and-nonfiction-short-and-long/) [Celeste Ng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celeste-ng/) > [Fiction and nonfiction are not so easily divided. Fiction may not be real, but it's true; it goes beyond the garland of facts to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/fiction-and-nonfiction-are-not-so-easily-divided-fiction-may-not-be/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [There's no division on my bookshelf between fiction and nonfiction. As far as I'm concerned, fiction is about the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/there-s-no-division-on-my-bookshelf-between-fiction-and-nonfiction-as/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [The difference between fiction and nonfiction is that fiction must be absolutely believable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-difference-between-fiction-and-nonfiction-is-that-fiction-must-be/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I used to distinguish between my fiction and nonfiction in terms of superiority or inferiority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction-and-nonfiction-in-terms-of/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [I've long been interested in the role of 'minor characters' in major events. This has been the focus of a lot of the fiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mallon/i-ve-long-been-interested-in-the-role-of-minor-characters-in-major/) [Thomas Mallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mallon/) > [For me, choosing between fiction and nonfiction is really only about picking the right tool for the job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/for-me-choosing-between-fiction-and-nonfiction-is-really-only-about/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [I think, about the distinction between fiction and nonfiction. Fiction is not really about anything: it is what it is. But nonfiction - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-dyer/i-think-about-the-distinction-between-fiction-and-nonfiction-fiction/) [Geoff Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-dyer/) > [“look, and I’m sure you’ll be amazed at the wealth of great books—usually there are several hundred freebies in virtually every category of fiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-weber/look-and-i-m-sure-you-ll-be-amazed-at-the-wealth-of-great-books/) [Steve Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-weber/) > [I'm open to reading almost anything - fiction, nonfiction - as long as I know from the first sentence or two that this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-m-open-to-reading-almost-anything-fiction-nonfiction-as-long-as-i/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [It's hard to do fiction and nonfiction simultaneously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-s-hard-to-do-fiction-and-nonfiction-simultaneously/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Whether it's fiction or nonfiction, writing takes me to another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/whether-it-s-fiction-or-nonfiction-writing-takes-me-to-another-world/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) > [Fiction and nonfiction, for me, involve very different processes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/fiction-and-nonfiction-for-me-involve-very-different-processes/) [Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/) > [“WHEN IT WAS DECIDED (When was that again, and by whom?) that we were all supposed to choose between fiction and nonfiction, what was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-talbot/when-it-was-decided-when-was-that-again-and-by-whom-that-we-were-all/) [Jill Talbot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-talbot/) ## More by E. L. Doctorow > [Things that appear on the front page of the newspaper as 'fact' are far more dangerous than the games played by a novelist, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/things-that-appear-on-the-front-page-of-the-newspaper-as-fact-are-far/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [There are moments when I cannot bear this unremitting consciousness. It knows only itself. Awake, I am in a continuum with my dreams. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/there-are-moments-when-i-cannot-bear-this-unremitting-consciousness/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Most people are quiet in the world, and live in it tentatively, as if it were not their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/most-people-are-quiet-in-the-world-and-live-in-it-tentatively-as-if/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [It is the immigrant hordes who keep this country alive, the waves of them arriving year after year… Who believes in America more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/it-is-the-immigrant-hordes-who-keep-this-country-alive-the-waves-of/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [A book begins as a private excitement of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/a-book-begins-as-a-private-excitement-of-the-mind/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I started on computers with 'Billy Bathgate,' a little orange screen with black letters. I thought it was really cool, but it actually slowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-started-on-computers-with-billy-bathgate-a-little-orange-screen/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [When I'm writing, I like to seal everything off and face the wall, not to look outside the window. The only way out is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everything-off-and-face-the-wall-not/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Facts are the images of history, just as images are the facts of fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/facts-are-the-images-of-history-just-as-images-are-the-facts-of/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [The nature of good fiction is that it dwells in ambiguity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/the-nature-of-good-fiction-is-that-it-dwells-in-ambiguity/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Uncharged with invisible meaning, the visible is nothing, mere clay; and without visible circumstance, a territory, to connect to, our spirit is shapeless, nameless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/uncharged-with-invisible-meaning-the-visible-is-nothing-mere-clay-and/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [“Writing a novel is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/writing-a-novel-is-like-driving-at-night-in-the-fog-you-can-only-see/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I did have a feeling then that the culture of factuality was so dominating that storytelling had lost all its authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-did-have-a-feeling-then-that-the-culture-of-factuality-was-so/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I got married very early, and in no time at all, we had three children. And it seemed to me I had an obligation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-got-married-very-early-and-in-no-time-at-all-we-had-three-children/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [When you're writing a book, you don't really think about it critically. You don't want to know too well what you're doing. First, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-you-re-writing-a-book-you-don-t-really-think-about-it-critically/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [A writer's life is so hazardous that anything he does is bad for him. Anything that happens to him is bad: failure's bad, success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/a-writer-s-life-is-so-hazardous-that-anything-he-does-is-bad-for-him/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) [Explore all 108 E. L. Doctorow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) [Edward Einhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-einhorn/) > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) [Coheed and Cambria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coheed-and-cambria/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“His hands on my waist he gently pulled me n embrace. I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) [Browse all 7,410 Fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there's only narrative.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E. L. 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