"Life" choices: deciding to use fiction in biographical writing

Abstract

There now seem many choices of form available to writers of the lives of others in the 21st century, ranging from traditional nonfiction to fictional biography. The increasing presence of the latter has revealed (and perhaps boosted) an openness to the representation of actual lives in fiction, but what makes it a compelling choice in writing practice? This paper seeks to consider this question by way of two case studies: one of a highly visible and controversial work about a major figure on the world stage and the second a work in progress about Australia's almost-forgotten first woman aviator. The first briefly offers a view of the risks and rewards of using fictional elements; the second is a more detailed look at the process of choosing fiction as a writing modality in preference to other genres. Discussing the adoption of the form of fictional biography for its exploratory power in writing the life in question may also offer a reflective process useful for other biographical projects.