When it comes to writing books, nonfiction is probably one of the easiest to organize and create. We’re not saddled with different storytelling structures and models. We don’t have to deal with character back stories, plot twists, or worry about building a new universe. There are a few different ways to organize a nonfiction book, depending on your subject matter and your purpose, and knowing how you’re going to organize the book can make the thing so much easier to … Read More »

Can you think of your story as a sandwich? Have I lost my mind? Probably. But it’s been a while since breakfast. Let’s think about the two pieces of bread as the beginning and end of your story. They need to be appealing, satisfying, and somewhat sturdy if they are going to support whatever fillings you place between them. It can be wheat or rye, thick or thin. The choice is yours. I’m going with multi-grain bread for my story-supporters. … Read More »

“Gawking” is phrasing which puts an unnecessary layer between the reader and the action. If a character sees, watches, or hears another character or an event in the story, then that character is screening the reader’s view of what’s happening. The scene starts with: Out for an early morning stroll, Sean was the first to notice the fire in the old barn. For the second sentence, we have two choices: He saw the leaping flames and smelled the acrid smoke. … Read More »

What is your style of writing? I do not mean your genre of choice or your literary voice. I mean: How do you actually work best? While there are as many ways of working as there are writers, I believe there are two major categories into which all of these individual structures fit — sprinters and marathoners. Sprinters These are the writers who may have other jobs, or small children at home, or other responsibilities that make it impossible for … Read More »

I give a lecture on occasion on building suspense in fiction, and touch briefly on applying techniques of fictional suspense to nonfiction. Characters, motivation, surprise, conflict, pacing … the same building blocks that bring fiction to life can also electrify nonfiction. If you break down nonfiction bestsellers you’ll find this true. Fabulous examples abound. The Lost City of Z (2009) by David Grann. Dead Wake (2015) by Erik Larson. In the Heart of the Sea (2000), by Nathaniel Philbrick. Let’s … Read More »

I have a friend who is not a fan of historical fiction (and yes, we’re still friends). She describes them as “those books about kings and queens.” That made me start to think about who makes the best protagonist for historical fiction: is it a real, factual person—who will generally be a public person, or someone in sufficient prominence to have left a record—or an everyday person, probably spun from the imagination? Perhaps there is no better or worse here, … Read More »