All fiction is based on experiences of the author and therefore it may be partially fact.

I do agree that SOME fiction is based on the author's experiences, but I do not agree that ALL fiction is based on experience. I will use your Jane Austen example to show you how a work of fiction is not purely based on experiences of the author. Jane Austen books were based half on experience, and half on pure fantasy that had absolutely nothing to do with experience. Common Characters: 1. The main character who is witty, passionate, and usually a little foolish. In Pride and Prejudice: Elizabeth In Sense and Sensibility: Marianne In Northanger Abbey: Catherine In Emma: Emma In Persuasion: Anne In Mansfield Park: Fanny These characters are very much like Jane Austen herself. 2. The Good Friend or Sister who is more realistic In Pride and Prejudice: Jane In Sense and Sensibility: Elinor In Emma: Mrs. Weston / Taylor These are based on Jane Austen's sister Cassandra, especially Elinor and Jane. 3. The man who the main character almost falls in love with until he betrays her trust In Pride and Prejudice: Mr. Wickham In Sense and Sensibility: Willoughby In Emma: Frank Churchill These characters are based probably on Tom Lefroy, who Austen had a short friendship with. There was a little flirting but no evidence of anything else, though she cried when he was removed from her company. 4. The bumbling idiot who wants to marry the heroine despite having nothing in common In Pride and Prejudice: Mr. Collins In Northanger Abbey: Mr. Thorpe In Emma: Mr. Elton In Persuasion: I don't recall his name, but the arrogant one! In Mansfield Park: Henry While these characters are all based on Jane Austen's experiences, they are not fact. The activities these people take part in are not fact, especially as relates to the upper class scenes in Pride and Prejudice or the entirety of Emma. Jane Austen had very little knowledge of how the upper class behaved, so her scenes relating to it could not be based on experience. 5. The Perfect Match for the heroine and sometimes her sister/friend In Pride and Prejudice: Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley In Sense and Sensibility: Colonel Brandon and Edward F In Northanger Abbey: Henry Tilney In Emma: Mr. Knightley, Mr. Weston, Mr. Farm guy (why can I not remember names!) In Persuasion: Capt. Wentworth In Mansfield Park: Edmund ETC: Annoying mother figures and loving father figures Jane Austen never experienced true love. She died in her forties. She could not know how these women felt, and so the second half of most of her books are not at all based on experience. You say that Jane Austen put her heroine in the city of her preference based on experience, and that is why she is not at Bath; yet Catherine loves Bath in Northanger Abbey. Jane Austen did not know of cold families, which I believe you might have hinted at. Her father was loving, her mother was kind, and she and her siblings had a close relationship. The situation Fanny (Mansfield Park), Anne (Persuasion), Marianne and Elinor (Sense and Sensibility) are in would have been totally foreign to Jane Austen, as would the quiet home life of Emma. You also say that Jane Austen wrote about factual moral or at least societal manners, so it would follow that she would know of these matters from experience. Yet Jane Austen's mother did not force her or give her trouble when she turned down the only proposal she received in her late 20s from Biggs-Wither, and so she did not experience the high pressures that Elizabeth Bennet's family did- they did not have a male heir, which was why they had so much pressure on them. Jane Austen was the sister of many boys, so her family did not have to worry. As I have shown, Jane Austen did in fact NOT write from personal experience but from the need to live vicariously through her writing, so it follows that all fiction is not based on experience and is therefore not always fact. Also, is "fact" the word you wish to use? I would agree with "autobiographical" possibly but never fact. Jane Austen does not once tell a story of fact. In response to your Roald Dahl arguments, I would agree that inspiration comes from experience but still not all fiction and I do not believe it leads to any facts-- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is purely fiction, with no bit of fact in it though it may refer to a moment similar to one in Roald Dahl's life.