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Non-fiction texts

A selection of fashion and style magazines.

A non-fiction text is based on facts. It is really any text which isn’t fiction (a made-up story or poetry). Non-fiction texts come in a huge variety of types. You find them everywhere in life, from the back of the cereal packet at breakfast, to a text book at the library. They can range from a newspaper article to a review of a new computer game. They are written for many different purposes, and are aimed at many different people or audiences.

Non-fiction texts include:

  • advertisements
  • reviews
  • letters
  • diaries
  • newspaper articles
  • information leaflets
  • magazine articles

Literary non-fiction

Literary non-fiction is a type of writing which uses similar techniques as fiction to create an interesting piece of writing about real events. These techniques help to create non-fiction which is enjoyable and exciting to read. Some travel writing, autobiographies, or essays that consider a particular viewpoint are key examples of literary non-fiction. Their main purpose is to entertain whilst they inform about factual events or information.

Literary non-fiction texts include:

  • feature articles
  • essays
  • travel writing
  • accounts of famous events
  • sketches (normally a fact file profile that gives key information about a person, place or event)
  • autobiographies (where you write about yourself) or biographies (where someone else writes about you) - these texts may be written by sportspeople, politicians, celebrities or other people who aren’t well-known