The complete idiot's guide to writing nonfiction
Book - 2012
Get all the tools you need to craft compelling creative nonfiction prose. This helpful guide gives you everything you need to write real-life characters, compelling plots, natural dialogue, and captivating details.
Saved in:
- Subjects
- Published
-
New York :
Alpha Books
c2012.
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Physical Description
- xiv, 304 p. ; 23 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN
- 9781615642298
- Part 1. An Overview of the Genre
- 1. What Is Narrative Nonfiction?
- Narrative Nonfiction: A New Literary Form
- Early Developments of Narrative Nonfiction
- Reasons for Writing Narrative Nonfiction
- How Nonfiction Differs from Fiction
- Short Forms of Nonfiction
- Personal Essays
- Lyrical Essays,
- Travel Essays
- Food Articles
- Profiles
- Literary Journalism
- Science and Nature Writing
- Hybrid Forms: Vignettes and Mosaics
- Longer Forms of Nonfiction
- Memoirs
- Autobiographies
- Dramatic Book-Length Journalism
- Biographies
- 2. Story and Structure
- What Is a Story?
- Provoking a Response in the Reader
- Do You Have a Story?
- What Are the Ingredients of a Story?
- Characters
- Conflict
- Setting
- Plot
- Resolution
- Story Structure
- The Narrative Arc
- Different Ways to Begin a Story
- In Medias Res: Into the Midst of Things
- Chronological Order
- Reverse Chronology
- Breaking the Narrative
- 3. Finding Your Subject
- Finding Story Ideas
- What Are You Passionate About?
- Look Around You
- Think Like a Writer
- Mine Your Expertise
- Check Your Local Newspaper
- Mine Your Memories
- Who's Your Audience?
- Finding Your Voice
- Choosing a Point of View
- First Person
- Second Person
- Third Person
- Multiple Narrators
- An Omniscient Narrator
- Part 2. The Building Blocks of Nonfiction
- 4. Building Characters from Real People
- Characters in Nonfiction
- Flat vs. Round Characters
- Yourself as a Character
- Wants, Needs, and Desires
- Physical Description: It's in the Details
- Using Specific Descriptive Words
- Using Dialogue to Capture Character
- Conversation's Greatest Hits
- Re-creating Dialogue
- How to Write Respectfully About Real People
- Doing Unto Others
- Changing Names to Protect the Innocent
- Conflating Characters
- 5. Truth, Lies, and Nonfiction
- Did It Really Happen?
- Taking Liberties with the Truth
- The Media Fallout
- Stretching the Forms of Nonfiction
- Comedy and Exaggeration
- Imagining Things When You Weren't There
- Deconstructing the Memoir
- Establishing Your Credibility
- Admitting What You Don't Know
- Using Conditional Words to Signal the Reader
- Re-creating from Memory
- What Do You Owe Your Readers?
- Compressing Time
- Principles for Writing Nonfiction
- 6. Scene Setting and Summary
- Lights! Camera! Action!
- Orienting Your Reader in Time
- Using Descriptive Words in Your Scene
- Orienting Your Reader in Place
- Thinking Through Your Senses
- Capturing Place
- Using Details
- Mapmaking
- Tips for Writing About Place
- Showing and Telling: Yes, You Can Do Both
- Take the Scene Test
- Telling: The Reflective Mode
- When to Use Scene vs. Summary
- Part 3. Drafting
- 7. Just the Facts: Doing Research
- Researching Your Own Life
- Journals, Diaries, and Letters
- Other Documents
- Social Media
- Using Photographs
- Interviewing Friends and Family Members
- Researching Other People's Lives
- Doing Archival Research
- Using Statistics and Government Resources
- Traveling: Being There
- Immersion Journalism
- Putting It All Together
- 8. Honing Your Interview Skills
- How to Conduct Interviews
- Deciding Who to Interview
- Preparing for the Interview
- Listening and Asking the Right Questions
- Do's and Don'ts for Interviewing
- Recording the Interview Ill
- Beginning and Ending Your Interview
- Interviewing as an Art Form
- Letting Your Subjects Reveal Themselves
- Paying Attention to Body Language
- After the Interview
- Transcribing Your Interview
- Editing Quotations: What's Allowed?
- The Relationship with Your Interviewees
- Libel
- What Is Libel?
- Protecting Yourself Against Libel
- 9. Composing Your Nonfiction!
- Establishing a Writing Routine
- Dealing with Procrastination
- Overcoming Writer's Block
- Banishing Your Internal Censor
- Drafting
- The Iceberg Draft
- Finding the Theme
- The Importance of the Lede and the Conclusion
- Hooking the Reader
- Writing Satisfying Conclusions
- Reflecting on the Experience
- 10. Short Forms of Nonfiction
- The Personal Essay
- Yourself as Subject
- Your Voice
- The Questioning Mode
- Tips for Writing Personal Essays
- The Travel Essay
- Autobiographical Travel Stories
- Travel Writing Close to Home
- What Are the People Like?
- Tips for Writing Travel Articles
- The Profile
- Your Choice of Subject
- Researching and Writing Profiles
- Tips for Writing Profiles
- Food Writing
- Filling Your Soul
- Tips for Food Writing
- 11. Long Forms of Nonfiction
- Why Write a Book?
- The Memoir
- Deciding What Your Memoir Will Be About
- The Reflective Mode
- Tips for Writing Memoirs
- The Autobiography
- Chronology in the Autobiography
- Digging into the Past
- Tips for Writing Autobiographies
- Long-Form Journalism
- Immersing Yourself in the Subject
- Seeing the Forest for the Trees
- Tips for Writing Long-Form Journalism
- The Biography
- Why Choose This Person?
- Researching for a Biography
- Tips for Writing Biographies
- Sustaining a Book-Length Work
- Outlining
- Organizing Your Material
- Staying Motivated
- Part 4. Crafting Memorable Nonfiction
- 12. How to Make Your Sentences Sing
- Why Grammar and Punctuation Matter
- Varying Sentence Length
- Run-On Sentences and Fragments
- Take the Fragment Test
- Fixing Run-On Sentences
- Using Strong Action Verbs
- Metaphors and Similes
- Avoiding Clichés
- How to Make Your Prose Musical
- 13. Revision: Your Best Friend
- Revising for Focus
- Finding the Central Focus
- Beginnings and Endings.
- Revising at the Paragraph Level
- Pacing in Your Paragraphs
- Revising Your Sentences and Getting Rid of Clutter
- Revising at the Word Level
- Checklist for Revision
- Avoiding Common Writing Mistakes
- Changing Point of View
- Not Having a Voice
- Not Keeping the Fans Straight
- Holding Back from the Reader
- Part 5. After the Writing Is Done
- 14. Breaking into Nonfiction Markets
- The Narrative Nonfiction Market
- Breaking into the Market
- Do Your Home-work
- Sending Your Work
- Literary Magazines
- Breaking into Literary Magazines
- What Do Literary Magazines Pay?
- Where to Find Literary Magazines
- Online Magazines
- Sending Work to More Than One Publication
- The Nonfiction Query Letter
- Dealing with Rejection
- Learn from the Experience
- Tips for Dealing with Rejection
- Frequently Asked Questions
- 15. Self-Publishing Your Work
- Blogging
- Brainstorming a Blogging Subject
- Catchy Blog Titles and Tag Lines
- Secrets for Writing Successful Blog Posts
- Self-Publishing e-books
- One Writer's Success Story
- Choosing Your Self-Publishing Platform
- Advantages and Disadvantages
- Marketing Your Nonfiction
- Using Social Media
- Book Bloggers
- Giving Live Readings
- 16. How to Sustain a Writing Life
- Building a Supportive Writing Community
- Forming a Writing Group
- How to Structure a Writing Group
- The Importance of Constructive Feedback
- Tips for Giving Feedback
- Revise Your Work After Getting Feedback