The pontiff strikes again

New commenter Ann writes:

"As soon as I gave my book proposal over to my agent a couple of weeks ago, I began to think it was all a big mistake. I keep telling myself I'm a fiction writer not a nonfiction writer. It's crazy. So, my question is: How do you cross from nonfiction to fiction with ease? I've written essays and book reviews, but a longer work is much different."

Ann, I think the transition from fiction to non-fiction isn't as dramatic as it seems, if we can stop psyching ourselves out about it. I say "we" because I’m experiencing this problem in reverse – I’m trying to go from writing non-fiction to writing fiction – and right now it seems daunting. In non-fiction, you already know who the characters are and what the events are, whereas in fiction, you’ve got to make up all that stuff, and it has to be as believable as the truth. It’s kind of been freaking me out, so please pardon me if half of what I say to you is stuff I need to be saying to myself.

For instance: Try not to focus too much on the fact that you’re switching genres. Writing is writing, no matter what the genre is – you sit down at the desk, you think hard about what you want to convey, and you put words on the page. You get through that first draft however you can, and you worry about making it “good” in the second draft. The more organized you are when you sit down at your desk, the better off you’ll be, so if you can make any kind of outline or scene list, do so. All of that holds true whether you’re writing a screenplay, a poem, a short story, or a listicle about seventeen ways to apply lipgloss (16. With chopsticks!).

The thing is, good non-fiction uses all the same elements as good fiction. You’re still trying to tell a story, you’re just trying to tell a true story in this case. You still want to describe things accurately, clearly, using all the senses, and with apt choices of words; you still want to invest scenes with emotions, and let the reader know what’s at stake for the characters at every turn. You want to include only the relevant action, and leave out the stuff that doesn’t affect the plot. So non-fiction and fiction have a lot in common, especially in book-length projects.

The differences are these:

1. In fiction, you can play around with the story, and add or delete plot points as you see fit. In non-fiction, you’re dealing with a fixed set of events. It can be tempting, when writing non-fiction, to include every single piece of information that relates to your subject (I’ve been accused of doing this in Have You Found Her – my accusers should have seen the first 500-page draft of the book), but you’ll have to find the throughline of the story (what do the main characters want, and what’s in the way of their getting it?), and stick to it, leaving out anything that does not relate to the main characters’ pursuit of their specific goals.

2. Instead of using your powers of imagination to create scenes and characters, you’ll have to use your powers of imagination to empathize with characters who already exist, and to focus on the details that will bring those scenes to life. If you’re Simon Winchester, and you’re writing the story of how a convict in a mental ward helped write the Oxford English Dictionary, you’re going to have to use a mixture of reportage and imagination to help us envision what the prisoner’s cell looked, smelled, and felt like, and how he felt when he succeeded or failed in his attempts to contribute to the book. It’s still imaginative work; it’s just in the service of truth.

Ann, you mention that you wrote a proposal for this book, so you’ve already considered the story and what the events of the book will be. And since proposals usually contain chapter summaries, chances are good that you’re going into this with a solid outline. So you’re probably ahead of the game when it comes to this project. It may just be a matter of relaxing (the hardest thing for writers to do), breaking the thing down into manageable chunks, and doing what you already know how to do – expressing action and emotion through words.

I hope I managed to say something helpful here – now I’m going to go back and read it all in reverse and see if I can’t apply some of it to my own quandary. If there’s something I didn’t address, or you have a follow-up question, let me know, and I’ll see if I can’t pontificate on it. Good luck with the book, and let us know when it’s out there in the world.

Comments

[luckydave]

I was really hoping for a solidarity post concerning the Pope's upcoming visit to NYC, and the layperson's teaching union's accompanying strike. Poor unordained catholic teachers. Private school just doesn't pay enough. I mean, they could be making so much more teaching in the public schools...

Applying lip gloss with chop sticks sounds downright dangerous.

Writing is hard. Big projects are harder. It's not fair. There's no easy way!

[satia]

I remember a writing group I had going that was my most successful one to date. We started by exploring journaling and branching quite naturally into memoir writing. I figured that writing from experience, whether immediate or distant, seems easier. I then hoped we would transition into fiction writing but as soon as we chose a book to be our focus, full of writing exercises and techniques, the group fell apart. I guess I didn't realize then how much more frightening fiction seems to be. I am still not sure I get it but then I am easily confused and not sure I understand a lot of things that are quite obvious to others.

[Ann]

Thanks for the depth of your answer. I will print it out and read it when I break out in a cold sweat :).

To comment on Satia's comment:

I was part of the group Satia refers to in her insightful words. I never thought about it, but she is correct. The group did begin to fall apart when fiction was introduced.

This group was the best. I draw from what I learned in the journaling portion while working on this new nonfiction project. I also journal everyday due to the experience.

Thanks to both of you!
Ann