Characters and scenes are invented by the author to tell a story. Novels and short stories are examples of fiction. Non-fiction books deal with more factual information. All reference books, history, literary criticism, and science books are classed as non-fiction. To confuse matters a little, fiction is itself part of a broader category known as literature.
Literature includes works of fiction as well as poetry and memoir.
Many people are familiar with works of literature and fiction. People borrow works of fiction from a public library or purchase them from a bookstore. To find a work of fiction we usually just browse the book shelves or seek out a book by a specific author. Of course we would be wrong. Our library does own such a book, entitled A Farewell to Arms , which was written by Ernest Hemingway and originally published in 1929 by Charles Scribner's and Sons.