Blog Fiction Terms

I've already done several posts defining the term blog fiction - including my final definition. I also explained why I call it Blog Fiction instead of fictional blogs. Those are just a couple of terms that may sound foreign to someone who is new to online fiction. I thought that I would use this post to go over some words and phrases related to online fiction that haven't quite made it into Webster's.

Blog Fiction
Serialized literature published to a blog that is written in a diary format. Often, but not necessarily, the fictional writer of the blog will interact with it's readers. See my previous post, Blog Fiction Defined.

Fictional Blog
Blog Fiction is often, incorrectly, referred to as a "fictional blog". See my post, Blog Fiction Vs. Fictional Blog for more details.

Fictional Blogger
An Imaginary Blogger. The imaginary characters who "write" Blog Fiction.

Blogfic
Short for Blog Fiction.

Internet Fiction
Any and all fiction published on the internet. This includes all blog fiction, fiction blogs, and any other website publishing literature to the internet.

Fiction Blog
Blog that contains fiction. This includes short stories, serials, or any other type of fiction prose.

Blog Novel
A term that, while not coined by, but redefined by the people at Making Melly Mills. We agree that the term makes sense as a synonym for a narrative blog fiction. Some people use it to refer to any novel written or published to a blog.

Blovel
Short for Blog Novel

Blook
The LuLu Blooker prize committee defines a blook as:

blook (bluk), n. A printed and bound book, based on a blog (cf. web log) or web site;

Blog Fiction Vs. Fictional Blog

A lot of the time, people will use the terms "blog fiction" and "fictional blog" interchangeably. I admit that I've been guilty of doing this on several occasions. The problem is that referring to a blog fiction site as a "fictional blog" is a misnomer. To make my point, let's look at the definition for fictional given by the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Entry Word:
fictional
Function:
adjective

Text: not real and existing only in the imagination - the events in the horror movie seemed so real to some fans that they could not believe that the whole thing was fictional

Something that's "fictional" means that it is not real. As in a fictional character, a fictional actor, or a fictional tv show. Using the phrase "fictional blog" would imply that the blog you are talking about isn't real. With the blogs I read, that couldn't be further from actuality. When I read Leroy Power's blog, I load it, read it, leave comments, and even link to it. It is just like any other blog that I read. That blog is real. Leroy might be a fictional character, but his blog most certainly is not fictional.

I liken the blog in a blog fiction to the stage of a live theater production. In a play, the characters and setting are fictional, but you wouldn't call the stage they stand on fictional. A blog is like the stage of blog fiction writers. Each one is different, but it's real.

Even though "fictional blog" is a misnomer, it seems more natural to say than "blog fiction" or "blog fiction site" and I think that's why some people use that phrase instead. I am going to try to no longer use the phrase when referring to a blog fiction site. The only time I'll use it is if I'm reading a story that refers to a blog that doesn't exist. That would be a fictional blog.

I know that this vocabulary might put me at odds with some people and websites. For instance, The first two words of Betsy Friedrich's thesis on Blog Fiction was "Fictional Blogs:". Also, Jilliane Hamilton's flocalicious directory uses the phrase fictional blog to describe blog fiction sites. It even coins the word "flog" for short.

Now, I'm not going to start crusading through the internet and demand people change their webpage and urls from fictional blog to blog fiction. However, I will pledge to use the terms correctly from this point on and just hope that others will eventually follow my lead.