6 Must Read Craft Books for Nonfiction Writers
All writers have heard at least once that the best way to improve your writing is by reading. Nothing gets the cogs of your own brain moving like an inspiring sentence from a writer you admire (or sometimes one you don't). While you can read anything you want to improve your toolkit, reading about writing is a to-the-quick strategy. It is also a handy distraction from writing that thing that has been lodged in your gut for the past days, weeks, months, or years.
Writing non-fiction uses many of the same skills needed for writing fiction; good storytelling, evocative imagery, and good sentence structure. However, it does have its own set of complex issues such as clarity of writing, usefulness of knowledge, accuracy of facts, and even morality of your writing. It is easy to let your writing take a back seat. These books can help you tackle these issues and improve your piece whether it is a cookbook, travel blog, news article, textbook, or memoir.
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
“Writers get confused. We think writing gives us an excuse for being alive. We forget that being alive is unconditional and that life and writing are two separate entities. Often we use writing as a way to receive notice, attention, love. “See what I wrote. I must be a good person.” We are good people before we ever write a word.”
Natalie Goldberg approaches writing with a focus on practice. She explores the immense value a writing practice can bring and how writer’s are more than just what they publish. This book is great for writers of all levels, as she focuses on actionable ways to write with intention and patience. One of her recurring recommendations throughout the book is to write with energy and to use the fear or the blank page as a fire which fuels the act of writing. The focus of writing for one’s self rather than for publication can be very freeing and is a helpful way to motivate yourself to keep picking up the pen.
The Power of Writing It Down by Allison Fallon
“Writing is a distinctly human impulse. Why on earth should you be excluded from the practice?”
Allison Fallon is an author as well as the founder of Find Your Voice, a community that offers support, workshops, and coaching for writers. Her book is ideal for a beginning writer wrestling with impostor syndrome. This book helps readers work through the many mental barriers that keep us from writing while also offering simple and actionable ways to get back to the page. The steps she recommends may be familiar to the seasoned writer but are still worth reading if only because of how generously Fallon gives us permission to write.
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
“The best memoirists stress the subjective nature of reportage. Doubt and wonder come to stand as part of the story.”
Mary Karr is an accomplished memoirist, with titles including Lit, The Liar’s Club, and Cherry. Her book is divided into chapters which meditate on different aspects of writing a memoir. This book doesn’t act as a “how-to” and instead provides thoughtful chapters that explore subjects like truth and memory. This book may prompt you to think back on your memories and write about them with more depth than just recounting events, but exploring them and your perspective of them to learn more about yourself.
Writing to be Understood by Anne Janzer
“I trust that you won’t abuse these tactics to manipulate people. The world desperately needs reasoned discussion about complex issues. So, do what you can to foster and contribute to productive, respectful discourse and discussions.”
Writing to be understood is a quick and accessible read. Janzer breaks down the psychology of the reader to help non-fiction writers better tailor their work to them. Each chapter is loaded with personal anecdotes, digestible neuroscience, lessons from experts, and simple tips which condense the lessons of each chapter. She touches on major challenges in nonfiction like avoiding clickbait and misinformation, summarizing complex information, and creating effective analogies.This is a great tool during rewrites, as Janzer encourages you to consider your ideal audience for a piece and tailor it to better serve them while getting your message across.
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
“No subject is too specialized or too quirky if you make an honest connection with it when you write about it.”
Zinsser’s book is an incredible tool and offer’s advice that you can immediately apply to whatever project you are working on be it review, a feature piece, a memoir, and more. His approach is based on a foundation of clear writing, admiration for the rules of grammar, and love of the craft of writing. He uses his vast experience to demystify challenges like how to choose a topic, how to interview people, how to handle edits and rewrites, and of course how to inject your own voice and style into your writing. You can take the tips in a chapter and apply it directly to your current work in progress to improve your writing.
The Fact Checker’s Bible by Sarah Harrison Smith
This one may seem a bit unusual, but if you plan on writing non-fiction it is worth understanding the fact-checking process. This process is not universally applied across all fields of writing and while The New York Times may have a large experienced team of fact-checkers, when you go to publish you may find otherwise. This book is short and to the point, covering the growth of the practice and then walking you through how a fact-checker reviews a piece from the first read to editing with the author and then to publication. To learn more about fact-checking, I would recommend Emma Copely Eisenberg’s piece on going through the process for her own book.
You may notice that some of these books contradict each other. Some think that the messy draft is your first step, others believe that creating a blueprint of your piece is essential. Keep in mind that writing is your craft and you should take these tips, try them on for size, but only keep the ones that fit your practice. Don't let all these rules and strategies fill your mind so much that you avoid the most important step: write!
Honorable Mentions
Tell It Slant by Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola
