Thread: I just cannot get into non-fiction writing!

It is really bad, I can't write any non-fiction writing, not autobiographies or biographies or factual things unless I have to because of school. It's not as though I am bad at non-fiction writing, It's just that I cannot seem to get my head in the right place to write non-fiction. It's something that I need to improve on... any tips?

Thanks!

Find something interesting but difficult to read and rewrite it . What do you mean because of school? Here and now write it.

Or just don't do it.

You need a topic that you are interested about. The secret to non-fiction writing is writing with a purpose. If you are doing it for the sake of it, it's not going to work. Do it to inform or persuade.

if you can't do it and don't like doing it, why do it???

there's no law says you have to write non-fiction, is there?... or am i missing something?

I remember in my first grade, I won a prize for some city wide kids writing contest. My teacher submitted it after going over some minor revisions. I wrote half of it like a report and then I just made some story up for the latter half. But I remember from the third grade on there emerged this distinction between factual and non-factual and factual was equated with truth while non-factual was equated with false. You are supposed to write only the factual part for your writing assignments. It was my first experience of the whole "objectivity reigns supreme, science is the shit," type of reasonings. I conformed to that norm for a little while but then pretty soon I realized that there is a way to elicit the power of imagination in the factual writing, too and there is a way to subjectify non-fiction. And I do mostly non-fictions. but i want to do some fictions. some crazy styles. onto-cinematic self deconstrutive writing machine.

I use to be apart of this thing called E-Fedding (not sure if anyone around here has heard of that), but you basically write fictional stories with a main character of your choice. You do this against other people. There is a judger and he obviously judges if you or the person you're facing wins the match. Fiction writing was very fun in that sense. But I have never dabbled with it outside of that.

However, in writing non-fiction I always got such a sense of relief. I write about my own personal experiences and I find it liberating. The old phrase works best here I believe "getting something off your chest". It is always in the back of my mind until I finally decide to just sit down, focus and write the story. When I write non-fiction, it happens very quickly. The rush of my thoughts, emotions and senses at the time of the event I'm writing about flood so quickly into my mind, the story is so easily attainable within my own head. So it is then easy to translate it into a story.

It is not for everyone I suppose. And if you aren't good at it or not interested in it, nothing at all wrong with that. If fiction is your thing, stick with it.

If you don't like writing non-fiction then don't.

For me, writing non-fiction should be as enjoyable as writing fiction. Irony and satire generally bring the entertainment aspect to my non-fictional writing. Another important point of non-fiction writing is that the ultimate goal is, at least in my case, wonder with respect to understanding. In other words, that awesome feeling i get when i'm figuring out how something works, whether it's art, philosophy, science, etc... Only write what you love.

c ya
Nathan

For me, I used to write fiction all the time, it was so easy, I would just type and words would fly out. But I must say after writing my first non-fiction ebook, it was a lot easier than a fiction book.

To write it I used an outline, and I researched it, and before you knew it I was done. I think why it's easier is I was passionate about it.

So what you need to do, is really find something you are passionate about and write about it. Whether that is jogging, animals, skydiving, dancing, singing, or even writing.

So basically writer-at-heart you need to brainstorm your hobbies or what you like to talk about, and start from there. And before you know it you'll be on the way to writing non-fiction.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by writer_at_heart

It is really bad, I can't write any non-fiction writing, not autobiographies or biographies or factual things unless I have to because of school. It's not as though I am bad at non-fiction writing, It's just that I cannot seem to get my head in the right place to write non-fiction. It's something that I need to improve on... any tips?

Thanks!

writing nonfiction is something you have to have a passion for. it sounds like nonfiction isn't you. maybe fiction is. remember the harry potter books. she wrote those nonstop for four years. she said she didn't clean house for four years, she just wrote. she had a drive to do it. a compulsion. i feel like that about nonfiction. you have to feel it. feel a passion for what you are writing about. something that moves you. that makes an impact on you. something that won't let you walk away from it. look around in the world. what touches you? also nonfiction doesn't mean basically biographies or autobiographies, it just means anything that is real. not make believe like the harry potter stories. try fiction. there are a lot of great fantasy writers. the good thing about fiction is you don't have to spend tons and tons of time doing research. aahhh!

Write what you like. If you cant do it, take a break come to it later.