Real Life - Distinct From Fiction

Distinct From Fiction

When used to distinguish from fictional worlds or universes against the consensus reality of the reader, the term has a long history:

Authors, as a rule, attempt to select and portray types rarely met with in their entirety, but these types are nevertheless more real than real life itself. —Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot

Similarly, the phrase can be used to distinguish an actor from a character, e.g. "In real life, he has a British accent" or "In real life, he lives in Los Angeles."

There is a related but slightly distinct usage among role-players and historical reenactors, to distinguish the fantasy or historical context from the actual world and the role-player or reenactor from the character, e.g. "What do you do in real life?" or "Where do you live in real life?"

Read more about this topic:  Real Life

Famous quotes containing the words distinct from, distinct and/or fiction:

    “The most important fact about our shopping malls, as distinct from the ordinary shopping centers where we go for our groceries, is that we do not need most of what they sell, not even for our pleasure or entertainment, not really even for a sensation of luxury. Little in them is essential to our survival, our work, or our play, and the same is true of the boutiques that multiply on our streets.”
    —Henry Fairlie (1924–1990)

    “Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that call’d Body is a portion of Soul discern’d by the five Senses, the chief inlets of Soul in this age.”
    —William Blake (1757–1827)

    “... the main concern of the fiction writer is with mystery as it is incarnated in human life.”
    —Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)