Is Writing Non-Fiction Boring? Part 2 of 15
Does writing non fiction have its challenges? well of course, one of the biggies is writing to an audience who may or may not know more than you do. In fiction it is a bit easier to write, because a reader will “come along” for a while, but that is a whole other series!
I was reading Queen Victoria’s Gene last night, partly out of pleasure and partly because I needed to read for a fiction book that the Inkers know and find “good.” Then I saw it. Actually I had to reread the paragraph to make certain I got it correct. “The princess Victoria’s uncle George was King as the time of her birth.” Now this is a really old edition, but in a newer one it was fixed. The correct line should be “the princess Victoria’s grandfather George was King at the time of her birth.” now this isn’t a huge huge thing to me, I know enough about that time period, but for someone just reading about it…
Not so good.
But granted, I suspect that when writing non-fiction I’m a bit more careful on the details, and by default careful on others. I know that some reader somewhere will read my non-fiction and find something not correct. Part of the job is to make sure it is both factually correct and entertaining.
Entertaining?? A published non-fiction entertaining?
Exactly.
A writer who wants to be published need to have something of value given to the reader, be it in fiction or non fiction. Entertainment is a key.One thing is vital never ever alter facts. Learn some others to add, and be sure to Double check. But make your writing as entertaining and interesting as possible, so take out the best fiction book and read it.My Question for today is this: Can you use Fiction to make a Non-Fiction book Stronger?
Thanks to all my followers of this blog, thanks to those who comment and just to let you all know how grateful and pleased I am to have you here. I know I don’t always mention you all, but thank you. 200 followers is a wonderful thing
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5 Comments
Christy Pinheiro, EA ABA
Congrats on reaching the 200 mark! What a great milestone!
Non-fiction has its challenges, but I believe that overall, it's easier to survive as a writer publishing non-fiction. 5,000 sold copies of a non-fiction book can be a full-time income for a writer. In the world of fiction, 5,000 copies would not be a great success. I make a full-time income on about 2,000 sold units (non-fiction). The more technical the book, the better chance you have at success.
But I think that non-fiction can help PROMOTE fiction. Joe Konrath is a horror writer and has a free ebook on his site called the "Newbie's Guide to Publishing" and it has 140,000 downloads. Can you believe it? It's basically all his blog posts about writing topics organized into a huge, 750 page book. It's really good for a freebie.
I know that it has led to at least some of his great success.
PrettySiren
I think fiction does have a place in non-fiction, depending on what the book is about. If it's a nonfiction book on something that exists, but we know little about it, such as who REALLY killed King Tut, then some fiction, to make the book a bit more interesting, might be called for.
But it's a fine line. It could get messy if you don't slather the word "hypothetically" everywhere or something. lol
Personally, I prefer creative nonfiction. Yes, it's nonfiction, but it's not told in a stale, dry way.
JS
I agree with PrettySiren. Fiction does tend to creep into non-fiction writing…basically to add some spice, which may have a trampoline effect on the sales of the book. But yes, you have to know what's the perfect blend to mix fiction with non-fiction, for it to taste good to the readers.
Elise
Oh WOW, this is soooo beautiful ! You have the most gorgeous site here and I had to drop by and leave this comment for you – and say hello of course ! Your posts are lovely and you have interesting pictures. It's all perfect so thank you for sharing them all and best wishes….
Aditya
great posts, rebecca my friend
——-harrab ed——