The Purpose of Fiction

In a moody, artistic moment on holiday, I took this picture...

I loved the way the sky was reflected in the canal, a bit like oil on the water.  The clouds look like clouds, but at the same time you can tell but they're not,  -- there's a slightly broken, glazed effect which tells you that they're representations of clouds.

That's what fiction is like: it is a reflection of life.  What stops it being an exact reproduction of real events and people is the creativity, the perspective of the writer.  Just as the surface of the water in my picture adds a shimmer and a glow to the reflection, so your style and life experience will add a gloss to the story you are telling.

What I'm saying is don't be too literal in your writing, go for accuracy and truthfulness, but allow the alchemy of your imagination to work as well, so that the elements of your narrative take on a life of their own.  It is a mysterious process that acts as a bridge between actuality and fiction; it's a kind of smoke and mirrors; in it's way it's a reflection on water.