 Drama: April 15, 2020 Issue [#10129] |
This week: Nonfiction Writing Resources Edited by: Jeff  
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"What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out."
-- Alfred Hitchcock
Trivia of the Week: If you thought Amazon had a lot of fiction categories, take a look at their categories of nonfiction. For fiction, Amazon has approximately 200 primary genres and first/second-tier subgenres. For nonfiction, they have over 3,000.  |
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NONFICTION WRITING RESOURCES
Thank you to glynisj, who suggested this week's topic.
A great many writing resources are geared toward fiction authors. Writing groups will exchange work-in-progress novels or short stories, there are entire academic degree programs dedicated to the idea of getting your fiction effect published, and there are a multitude of books out there on developing characters, figuring out story structure, and the conventions of fiction genres. To be fair, all of those things exist for nonfiction as well, but they're not as often talked about. This newsletter is for those of you who write nonfiction and are looking for some suggested resources for your particular type of writing.
Writing Groups
Nonfiction writing groups can be formed just as easily as fiction groups. My suggestion for forming an effective writing group would be to look outside your particular niche and into other nonfiction genres as well. For example, a fiction writing group might be comprised of general science fiction authors, or even general fiction authors, rather than all being comprised specifically of steampunk authors. Similarly, if you're a nonfiction author focusing on personal habits, you might consider a writing group with not just other personal habits authors, but also other authors in the larger self-help space, or even authors in an even broader "nonfiction" category.
Just like with fiction, where having someone who knows your particular genre is a plus but isn't strictly necessary to be able to give feedback on things like character and structure and technical issues, a nonfiction author doesn't necessary have to be an expert in your particular area of the nonfiction market in order to be able to advise on things like structure, readability, and technical issues.
Books and Educational Items
In addition to there being a ton of books out there on the nonfiction writing space, there are a lot of other educational resources as well, such as YouTube videos and online courses, that deal with elements of nonfiction including the actual writing, editing, marketing, publishing, etc. Not to mention the fact that there are likely several other books in your chosen genre that you can study and use as a reference when you're writing and structuring your own work. Since many nonfiction authors also supplement their writing income with related products (consulting, professional services, courses and seminars of their own, etc., there are a ton of resources out there to help you put those products (and the accompanying written materials) together. Along those lines...
Conferences and Events
Conferences and events are some of the best ways to develop your nonfiction. Whether it's specifically a writing conference, or an event related to your subject matter, these are great places to meet others who are interested in the same subject matter you are, and where you can buy and sell your products and the products of others. While fiction may have their own conferences for specific genres or topics, the nonfiction event space is massive, with everything from fan conventions to corporate events to professional association meet-ups. These can be a great way to not just meet other professionals in your field, but to discover resources that will help you develop your own materials.
Nonfiction is a very, very large and diverse category. As such, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to venture outside of your own specific niche, which in turn has the unintended effect of making the community seem smaller, because it's harder to find people to connect with that do the specific thing you do. I think it's helpful to keep in mind the fact that nonfiction by far outpaces fiction in terms of the number of books, book sales, and consumer dollars being committed to not just the books but all of the related products as well. For anyone who writes nonfiction, I would encourage you to connect with others perhaps a little more outside your specific niche. Authors who occupy a similar space in your larger umbrella genre can be a great resource even if their work isn't exactly like yours.
Whether you're forming a writing group, looking for potential customers, or just trying to connect with like-minded individuals, think larger rather than smaller. Nonfiction is a big pond. 
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things"
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This month's official Writing.com writing contest is:
I also encourage you to check out the following items:
EXCERPT: In recent years, small bands of young, nomadic vermin have appeared in large, enclosed commercials plains. These mall dwellers, called Vestivi Peregrenus or Mall Rats, have almost overtaken the paths used by older, more mature shoppers.
EXCERPT: Many years ago when my two adult children were young, I decided to purchase a couple of bunnies for them for Easter. Not the usual stuffed animals, they were old enough now to take an interest in feeding and tending to a real live bunny. A friend at work had some adorable flop eared bunnies. Oh they were so cute, the perfect surprise for Emily and Lorne, I thought.
EXCERPT: Our National Guard Medevac unit was activated in November of 2003 to provide helicopter medevac support for active Army installations on the eastern part of the United States. Since our unit flew Viet Nam era Huey helicopters which were considered obsolete in the active Army, they were not able to deploy overseas. This made our unit only available to do stateside deployments so that the over used Active duty medevac units could recover after long deployments. After completing the initial training that the active Army inflicts on the National Guard upon activation, our unit began flight training to assume the mission.
EXCERPT: Back in early January I ruminated on a short fiction exercise that involved a boy, say a fourth grader, who when asked in class what his dad did for a living proudly announced his father was a prophet. He also enthusiastically averred that he wanted to be a prophet when he grew up, "Just like Daddy."
EXCERPT: It seems that for whatever reasons that people have, whether it is skepticism, thoughtlessness or simply not caring about fellow human beings, some people are refusing to practice the Social Distancing guidelines that are intended to slow the spread of Covid-19.
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