Writing "Non-boring" Nonfiction

By Dennis Goodwin

A writing manual for nonfiction writers, which focuses on techniques to pump life into nonfiction writing. It points out that the same techniques fiction writers have used for decades, can make true-life stories come alive, without sacrificing accuracy. Curiously, nonfiction is one of the only things that is named for what it is not. It's as if its supposed to be fiction, but we just couldn't pull it off. Nonsense! Just because nonfiction deals with characters and incidents we discovered rather than created, it can be equally captivating.
True-life writing can stick to the facts, yet utilize nearly all the same literary spices that have added flavor to fiction writing for centuries. As we stir in glittering dashes of action, interesting dialogue, vivid description, and tantalizing drama, we can serve up tasty slices of "non-boring" nonfiction to our hungry and appreciate readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dennis Goodwin
• Release date: May 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463849682

Dennis Goodwin

I am a free-lance historical nonfiction writer based out of Snellville, Georgia (near Atlanta). For over forty years, I have had an interest in writing about the American West, early entertainment, the Civil War period, and basically anything that catches my attention. I have written a number of books of short stories, as well as numerous articles for magazines like Wild West, True West, and Old West. My wife, Joan, has valiantly put up with my chronic writing addiction throughout the years...bless her heart.

Book preview

Writing Non-boring Nonfiction

by Dennis Goodwin

A concise compilation of techniques

that can help you pump life into

nonfiction short-story & lyric writing

Revised 2020; original copyright 2015 by Dennis Goodwin

My thanks to the founding fathers of the Waffle Houses, Huddle Houses

and similar institutes of higher education. I have spent countless hours

there poring through thousands of pages of writing resources –

many of which still have the coffee stains to prove it.

Also to Muffins the dog who sat patiently at my feet as I wrote and,

if the truth be told, actually did most of the brainwork.

Books by the author

Ten-minute Tales

More Ten-minute Tales

Out of the West

Brass Bands and Snake Oil Stands

Fate, Flukes, & Fame in Country & Bluegrass

Lives and Times

The Activity Director's Bag of Tricks

[e-mail]

Table of Contents

Writing Nonfiction Short-Stories

So What is This "Non-boring Nonfiction?

Writing Life Into True Short Stories

Keeping Your Story Reader-friendly

Bringing Them Into the Picture

Keeping the Readers on Their Toes

Writing Nonfiction Song Lyrics

Structure and Style

Rhyme-Time

Think Video

Triggering Their Senses

Molding and Polishing

Now What?

So What is This Non-boring Nonfiction?

The gleaming silver needle plunged beneath the crimson-coated skin, reappeared, then dived again into the dangling remains of Jedediah Smith's ear. The needle's steel-nerved operator, James Clyman, set his jaw and continued the grim task of stitching his captain's head back together with a needle and thread from his supply pack. There had been no time for second thoughts. He knew Smith wouldn't last long unless he could contain the flow of blood from the gaping wounds the marauding grizzly bear had inflicted.

Stitch by agonizing stitch, James Clyman pieced together the mangled portions of Smith's ravaged head. When Clyman had seen the grizzly's teeth clamp firmly on Jedediah's head, it looked like the end of the expedition for his friend and captain. But James Clyman was in the process of becoming a mountain man. And in the mountains there was no room for the faint of heart. Because of James Clyman’s unfaltering response, his captain would live to tell about the near-death attack. Clyman's account of the harrowing incident in an 1823 journal entry, was a classic piece of frontier understatement. This gave us a lisson, he reflected with more spirit than spelling ability, on the character of the grissly Baare which we did not forget.

That is what non-boring nonfiction is - it‘s true-life writing that does more than informs and educates, it actually makes you want to turn the page and continue reading. True storytelling doesn't need to slowly turn a reader to stone. Interesting writing is interesting writing, whether it's about events the writer creates or those that actually occurred. Yet when many people sit down to write a true-life article for their club newsletter, local newspaper or favorite magazine, their personality slowly drains through the soles of their shoes.

The same individual, who delighted her card club last night with warm funny stories, suddenly transforms. Her jaw tightens. Her eyes glaze over. And beads of perspiration dot her forehead. Then, ever so slowly and painfully, she begins to mechanically crank out ice-cold dribble that has all the charm and interest of an assembly manual for an aluminum shed.

It doesn't have to be that way. Most of the lively writing techniques that make good fiction come alive can just as easily be used with nonfiction. They can pull the reader into the action of a true story, just as they do in a captivating novel, and make the writing entertaining as well as informative. As writer Rebecca McClanahan put it, facts, information and real-life events do not have to be presented dryly, like encyclopedia entries. They can emerge, wrapped in the skin of story."

This method can not only make the writing more fun for the reader, but for the writer as well. The techniques that create that skin of story are not floating clouds of inspiration that envelop the poor slaving writer as he or she hovers over the typewriter in an isolated cabin. This might seem like a romantic concept, but in reality, captivating writing that can pull a reader into a nonfiction piece, is not something that just happens to us, it is an activity we learn and then do.

Writing, like woodwork or pottery, is a craft. And like any other craftsman, we need to learn the tricks of the trade and practice them until they become second nature. It's amazing though, how many people seem to miss this point. No one would expect to create an ornate walnut bookcase or an intricate ceramic vase without having a thorough knowledge of the craft. But many people feel they should be able to plop themselves down in front of a computer screen and immediately turn out highly polished and compelling writing.

There's a great story about a heart surgeon who met a professional writer at a party. I think someday I may just write a book too, the surgeon told her.

That's nice, she responded dryly, And I think someday I may just perform a quadruple bypass.

Fortunately, unlike the heart surgeon, we don't need to have a total mastery of the techniques before we undertake our first writing operation. We can perk up our stories, week by week, with each skill we master. Just as with musical or mathematical ability, some people seem to have a natural way with words. Nearly anyone, however, with enough time and effort, can add color to his or her writing and become proficient at creating captivating nonfiction short stories. Incidentally, that is a logical way to view the genre of the magazine-article writer – the nonfiction short story. The same techniques can also breathe life into true-life story-song lyrics, which I will discuss more later.

Writers of fiction have long recognized the value of learning and applying these craft techniques. Non-fiction writers, on the other hand, have been slow learners. Most have followed the century-old British tradition which demanded that the writer's voice paint a neutral background so the information presented in the writing would stand out by contrast.

Tom Wolfe, a past master of creative nonfiction, refers to this method as beige writing. If the information itself happens to be of direct and immediate value to a reader, this technique works relatively well. But if the reader isn't highly motivated to soak up the data itself, this form of writing can slowly bore him into a coma. Most of us simply have to recall the textbooks from our high school history classes in order to vividly relive the effects of beige writing.

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