Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Bonus content: Peter Ginna on NF


This article on writing non fiction by Peter Ginna is a very useful look at what works, and what doesn't.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whoa, hey, Bonus Content! I found an easter egg!

Anonymous said...

Aaaaaand now that I'm actually finished reading it- fantastic article! I sometimes delve into non-fiction (articles, not books) in my writing, and it brought out a couple things that I never thought of in terms of craft, and a couple that I would have done wrong if I'd got to them before I read the article. Extremely helpful, that.

Unknown said...

Lots of information. My mind boggles. Leitmotif? Lots of links to investigate, and words to look up. Thanks for this.

Anonymous said...

Amanda, a leitmotif is a recurring piece of song/melody/lyric that a character sings throughout an opera/operetta. It's like a refrain. It's a piece of music that is exclusive to that particular character, a recurring theme.

Karen McCoy said...

So glad I stumbled on this!

John Frain said...

Great stuff, and I can pretend it's a legit reason to avoid editing!

I'd submit some of this is a close cousin to fiction instruction. 4A, "Factophilia," plays as the non-fiction version of Kill Your Darlings, for example.

However, the "Woods for the Trees" piece flies in the face of fiction advice when he mentions it might even be okay to feel like you're patronizing by helping the reader connect the dots. From a fiction standpoint, I'm reminded of RUE: Resist the Urge to Explain.

Thanks for the bonus material. Anything else to keep me from the hard work staring up from my desk. This is saving me red ink.

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

Copy, print, staple. Break-time reading.
Your timing is creepy-perfect.
Thanks for the bonus. And I thought only Cracker Jacks came with prizes.

Theresa said...

Bonus content and Klingon--what a way to start September!

I research everything to death, then have difficulty separating information from story. There's always work to do and always something to polish.

Unknown said...

Thanks, WR!

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

Ah ha, especially #6 the light bulb moment.
Got it.

Pam Powell said...

Thanks for the article!

Delighted Ginna used Michael Lewis as a prime example. Lewis (Blind Side, The Big Short, Moneyball) is a wonderful writer.

The other non-fiction writer worth emulating is Laura Hillenbrand (Secretariat, Unbroken).

Anonymous said...

I almost missed this - and I'm so glad I didn't. I'm currently working on structuring a non-fiction book, and this article is so informative.

Thank you!