Poetic license occurs when a writer or poet takes liberties with the facts in order to improve their creation. Poetic license can occur in all forms of literature and poetry, however, it is considered bad form for non-fiction work, which is supposed to tell the truth. For this reason, it is most commonly found in works of fiction, but may also be found in biographies and autobiographies.

The idea of poetic license refers to a metaphorical license from a higher authority to distort the facts present in a story. It insinuates that the higher authority, being art or literature, has permitted the little lie for the sake of improving the story/poem. This term is also called artistic license, which relates only to art. In dramas and plays, this can also be called dramatic license.