Try Your Hand at Non-Fiction

Try Your Hand at Non-Fiction

When most people dream of becoming an author, they dream of writing a best-selling novel and often overlook non-fiction entirely. I have even heard people claim that someone isn’t a ‘real writer’ if they are writing non-fiction. Yet, writing non-fiction can be just as rewarding and even more challenging than fiction.

Many of the same rules apply whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction – such as avoiding clichés and exclamation marks, and ensuring your work is well edited, etc. But non-fiction requires dedicated research and, most importantly, an understanding of how to deliver information in a format that is easy to absorb and retain. Very few readers of s are doing so purely for pleasure and therefore will want to retain the information they read in your book.

Whether it is academic, special interest, a biography or a how-to/self-help book, you can’t get away with inventing towns and villages, skimming over the facts or jumping ten years on the plot line. If you are quoting someone, you can’t make what they said funnier or change it slightly to prove your point. Put simply, you can’t make up things that did not happen or even embellish them.

Whilst novelists are advised to research their subject well, for non-fiction writers it is essential and in many cases means months, maybe even years of collating information.

The Net generation will tell you can find everything you need on the Internet and there is no doubt that information is available on every topic at your finger tips. But trawling through endless volumes at the library or records office at least gives you the chance to get away from your desk and the information freely available on the Internet may not even be accurate or factually correct. Interviewing experts, conducting case studies or talking to people associated with your topic means liaising with the real world. So depending on your viewpoint, having masses of research to do can be an advantage or a major pain in the backside.

Whatever you decide to write, one thing is clear: you have to be prepared to put in the hours at your desk or on your laptop. And unlike the novelist, you have to know your topic inside out if you intend to attend book fairs or do book signings. People who come to see or hear you will expect you to know your subject and answer their searching questions. In short – you will need to be an expert on the topic of your book.

If you would like more help on how to write a non-fiction, self-help book and book coaching, please visit our website at The Writers’ House UK for more information.