writing fiction and nonfiction

Fiction vs. Nonfiction: What is the Difference Between Fiction and Nonfiction?

Sean Glatch  |  January 17, 2023  |  Leave a Comment

Works of prose are typically divided into one of two categories: fiction vs. nonfiction. A work of fiction might resemble the real world, but it certainly did not happen in real life. Nonfiction, on the other hand, should not contain any fiction, as the writer’s credibility comes from the truthfulness of the story.

Any writer of fiction vs. nonfiction will use different skills and strategies to write in each genre. Yet, fiction and nonfiction are more alike than you might realize. Additionally, there are many works of prose that fall somewhere in between the fiction vs. nonfiction binary.

This article examines, in detail, the writing strategies available to prose writers of fiction and nonfiction. It also examines the fiction vs. nonfiction binary, and offers insight into the role that “truth” plays in both genres of literature.

But first, let’s uncover what writers mean when they categorize a work of prose as fiction vs. nonfiction. What is the difference between fiction and nonfiction?

Fiction vs. Nonfiction: Definitions

Let’s begin by defining each of these categories of literature. The main difference between fiction and nonfiction has to do with “what actually transpired in the real world.”

“Fiction” refers to stories that have not occurred in real life. Fiction may resemble real life, and it may even pull from real life events or people. But the story itself, the “what happens in this text,” is ultimately invented by the author.

“Nonfiction,” on the other hand, refers to stories that have occurred in real life. The story may have happened in the author’s life, in the life of someone the author has interviewed, or in the life of a historical figure. It also describes works of journalism, science writing, and other forms of “reality-based” writing.

To further complicate things, writers might categorize something as being either “ creative nonfiction ” or, simply, “nonfiction.” This article discusses strategies for writing both, but with an emphasis on creative nonfiction, such as memoir and personal essays, as those skills apply to most forms of prose.

Fiction vs. Nonfiction: A way of categorizing literature based on whether it happened in the real world (nonfiction) or didn’t (fiction).

Now, while these two categories exist, it’s worth noting that certain genres of writing sit somewhere in the middle. Some genres that straddle the fiction vs. nonfiction border are:

• Autobiographical fiction (also known as autofic). An example is The Idiot by Elif Batuman.
• Speculative nonfiction , or writing in which invented truths are not at odds with what transpired in real life.
• Historical fiction, which typically involves the accurate retelling of real life historical events, with fictional characters and plots woven through that history.

But wait, how can a work of literature be both true and not true? We’ll explore that paradox later in this article. First, let’s explore the possibilities of fiction and nonfiction.

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Fiction vs. Nonfiction: Examples of Each Category

The following genres can be classified as types of fiction:

• Short stories.
• Plays and screenplays (though these can also be nonfiction).
• Literary fiction.
• Categories of genre fiction – including mystery, thriller, romance, horror, and other types of speculative fiction , like magical realism or urban fantasy .
• Fables, fairy tales, and folklore.
• Narrative poetry .

Meanwhile, these are different types of nonfiction:

• Personal essays.
• Biographies and autobiographies.
• Books about history.
• Periodicals.
• Lyric essays .
• Journalism, articles, food writing , travel writing, and other forms of feature writing.
• Scholarly articles.

Learn more about different types of nonfiction here:

https://writers.com/types-of-nonfiction

Characteristics of Fiction vs. Nonfiction

As you can see above, fiction and nonfiction are both expansive categories of literature. So, it’s impossible to describe all of fiction or nonfiction as being any particular thing. If I were to say “all fiction is about stories that haven’t actually happened,” that isn’t true, because genres like autofic and historical fiction exist.

Nonetheless, there are a few differences and similarities that can generally be stated about fiction vs. nonfiction. The differences include:

• Whether the story is made up or real.
• How the writer creates a plot for the story.
• The role research plays in telling the story.
• How themes are explored within the story.

Fiction vs. Nonfiction: Did It Actually Happen?

As we’ve already mentioned, the main difference between fiction and nonfiction is whether or not the story occurred in real life. In nonfiction, the story did occur in the real world; in fiction, it did not.

Fictional stories can be rooted in real-life events, but the scenes, plotline, and characters are invented by the author, even if they’re based on real people.

You might think of a couple of exceptions here. Historical fiction, for example, is often based on real historical events, such as Civil War stories. While the setting for the story happened in real life, and might even involve real historical figures, there are also fictional characters in the story, and the majority of scenes and plot points were fictionalized as well. If historical fiction interests you, check out our interview with Jack Smith on his novel If Winter Comes .

Another exception, in all seriousness, is fanfiction. Yes, Harry Styles fanfiction does involve a living, real life person. But the author is making assumptions, assigning character traits, and inventing plot points for Harry Styles that did not actually occur in the real world.

The point: fiction writers can (and always do!) borrow from real life. They might even tell their own stories as though they were fiction. Even in those instances, there are always details that are added, embellished, or altered to tell a more engaging story, so the stories themselves are still fictional.

Fiction vs. Nonfiction: What’s the Plot?

Fiction writers use plot as scaffolding for a story. By plot, we mean the way that the events of a story are organized from start to finish. Our article on plot structures offers different ways that fiction writers have used plot to tell their stories.

This is true even of literary fiction, which is typically defined as realistic fiction in which the characters’ decisions drive the story forward, and the characters themselves form the story. (This is a somewhat problematic distinction between genre fiction, but we discuss that in our article on literary fiction vs. genre fiction .) In those stories, plot is centered around the conflict in the story itself.

In nonfiction, the author’s goal is to organize what actually transpired in the real world into a cogent plot. For many writers, that means telling the story in a linear fashion, with careful attention to the most salient details and how they’re presented to the reader.

Of course, many creative nonfiction writers do tell stories non-linearly, particularly in genres like the braided essay, lyric essay, and hermit crab essay.

Fiction vs. Nonfiction: The Role of Research

Most prose writers will have to do some amount of research to craft effective works of fiction and nonfiction. Memoirists may be able to tell their story entirely without research, but anything to verify the accuracy of information counts as research, such as looking up old emails, the streets and locations of certain events, etc. Rarely can one’s memory suffice to tell an entire story.

Fiction writers integrate their research into the story. Let’s say your story is set in New York, a city you’ve visited, but never lived in. You have a character that lives in Bushwick, which is served by the L, M, J, and Z trains. You may need to research that, and when that research is integrated into the story, you’ll write that your character “took the L train.” (In other words, you will not write “I discovered that Bushwick is served by the L train, which my character took into Manhattan.”)

In nonfiction, research informs the story, and is directly cited in the text. Let’s say your story involves New York rent and the aforementioned L train. You might be writing about the time that the city almost shut down the L train—they needed to do repairs to the tunnel beneath the East River connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. When it was announced that this service was going to be suspended, rents drastically dropped in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a recently gentrified neighborhood, and many people locked in historically low rents. People were very upset about this sudden closure, and the L service was later not suspended, meaning, ironically, a bunch of people got cheap rents without losing train service.

This is the kind of story that a journalist might write about. Or, you might be someone who locked in that cheap rent, and it’s part of the story of your time living in Williamsburg. In any case, if it’s nonfiction, you’ll want to cite it directly in the text. A journalist might cite people that they interviewed, or a city historian might cite this article and this article . Someone writing creative nonfiction might not need to add a citation, but they would still want to research and communicate the details here so that the reader has context for their story.

To summarize: fiction writers integrate research into their stories, while nonfiction writers cite research to bolster and verify their stories.

Fiction vs. Nonfiction: How Themes are Explored

Theme refers to the overarching ideas presented and explored throughout the story.

Fiction writers explore themes implicitly; for them, the theme of a story is rarely stated. If, for example, the theme of a story is “justice,” then the fiction writer might explore who receives justice, who doesn’t, and how that justice (or lack thereof) is doled out. However, the fiction writer will not say “this character did not receive justice” explicitly—that’s for the reader to understand and form their own opinion about.

Nonfiction writers typically state their themes more openly. In a memoir or essay, the writer might explore why justice was or was not given to them, what factors went into that decision, and what it means to live a life after being (or not being) dispensed justice.

Some nonfiction writers might explore themes without stating them, or even without realizing they’re exploring them. But, because the nonfiction writer wants to convey what it was like to be the subject of the story, they will inevitably explore, and therefore openly state, the deeper parts of the story itself. This includes the author’s emotions, background, external circumstances, and the themes and conclusions that they drew from their experiences.

Similarities Between Fiction and Nonfiction

Despite the above differences, fiction and nonfiction have many similarities, too. In brief, these similarities include:

• The interplay of plot, characters, and settings to explore themes and ideas. While the people of nonfiction stories might not be considered “characters,” they are people presented in a certain way, and with a certain intent, on the page.
• Utilizing prose to tell a story. Fiction and nonfiction writers can both experiment with this: novelists have included poetry in their stories, and essayists, particularly lyric essayists and hermit crab essayists, often play with the prose form.
• The desire to entertain, inform, enlighten, challenge, and/or move the reader.

Fiction vs. Nonfiction Venn Diagram

What is the difference between fiction and nonfiction? The below Venn Diagram summarizes what’s similar and different about the two genres. Virtually all things in the world of literature have exceptions, so while the below is not true 100% of the time, it’s a good place to start teasing out the difference between fiction and nonfiction.

The Role of “Truth” in Fiction and Nonfiction

The primary difference between fiction and nonfiction is whether or not the story happened in the real world. Yet, we’ve already mentioned three example genres in which fact and fiction can coexist peacefully. So, how much does “truth” matter in fiction vs. nonfiction?

Certainly, most works of nonfiction must be entirely factual. Memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, scholarly works, books about history, and journalism must all adhere to what actually transpired in the real world. When works of nonfiction fabricate details, someone is bound to figure that out eventually, and the ensuing scandal probably isn’t worth it.

At the same time, there’s something to be said about “truth” as a multifaceted concept. One person’s truth can be different than another’s; two people can both have honest, differing interpretations about the exact same event. What matters more than truth, if anything, is honesty.

When memoirists publish their work as memoirs, they assert to the reader that what transpired in the text actually occurred in real life. (So, publishing a memoir about wandering Nazi-torn Europe and being adopted by wolves would not be true or honest, even if it’s a potent metaphor for how the author felt.)

Yet, a memoirist might include information in the novel that’s controversial, in dispute, or otherwise not verifiably true. Does that mean the author lied to their reader?

It really depends on the writer and what they wrote. Consider a few things:

• Emotional truth is sometimes at odds with factual truth. That’s not to say you should invent a metaphor and claim it actually happened. But, the brain works in weird ways, makes odd associations, and reacts to the truth strangely. As a result, your brain might distort memories to make an intense emotion make sense. What the writer conveys to the reader is still an accurate portrayal of how they experienced something, even though their memory of the event itself has been skewed..
•  Relatedly, memory is fallible. Unless you have an eidetic memory, you will inevitably forget, distort, or invent details in the memories you set on the page. Research on flashbulb memories proves that none of us remember exactly how we experience our own lives. But, often, the details we do invent have a profound psychological importance, and can still provide moving imagery and description to the story.
• All writing, particularly literature, requires some form of invention . What we mean by this is, real life is far, far messier than literature. In literature, we use plot as a way of organizing a story, and within that story, the details of settings and characters are carefully chosen to explore broader themes and ideas. This is true for both fiction and nonfiction. By asserting these craft elements into retellings of reality, we inevitably neglect certain details, or insert our biases and prejudices into the ways we frame a story. This isn’t to say we shouldn’t strive for the truth—we should—but it is to say that the entire truth may never be properly conveyed. Again, honesty matters more.

Why bring this up? Because all creative nonfiction is an exploration of the truth. And, as all writers know, the truth is far, far messier than fiction. Few truths are absolute. As such, an author’s integrity and dedication to honesty matters much more.

As for fiction, the events of the story are usually fabricated—though writers always pull details from their own lived experiences. Dostoevsky named characters after his children; Steinbeck set the majority of his stories in Central California, where he grew up; Murakami’s novels frequently feature jazz, classical music, baseball, cats, and other things of intimate importance to his life. Ruth Ozeki’s novel A Tale for the Time Being involves characters Ruth and Oliver, named after the author and her husband. The fictional characters have similar traits to the real life Ruth and Oliver.

Sometimes, a work of fiction is rooted in nonfiction, with only some elements added or fabricated. For example, our instructor Barbara Henning ’s novel Thirty Miles to Rosebud is semi-autobiographical.

And, of course, many works of fiction involve completely fictitious elements, especially in genres like fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Even for those genres, however, fiction should still try to arrive at some fundamental truth. Good fiction will inevitably (though not intentionally) teach the reader something about themselves, about others, and/or about the world around them.

Writing Fiction vs. Nonfiction

Many prose writers dabble in both fiction and nonfiction. Which should you write? Are there differences in writing one versus the other? What’s the main difference between fiction and nonfiction writing?

As we’ve discussed, the primary difference between fiction and nonfiction is whether the story occurred in real life. So, the primary difference in writing fiction vs. nonfiction comes down to the concept of “story” itself.

Our instructor Jeff Lyons argues that a story is a metaphor for the human experience . When we follow the plots of characters who must become different people to overcome certain obstacles, we see ourselves and our shared humanities reflected in those stories. To achieve this metaphor, the author must follow certain plot structures. Even in literary fiction, which often breaks the rules of plot structure, the plot must organize and enhance the story that’s being told, since plot is always what develops from the decisions that characters make.

Nonfiction, particularly creative nonfiction, also follows stories of adversity. In fact, most memoir publishers prefer to sell books about people overcoming adversity—feelgood stories sell better than ones that end on a low note. Yet, these stories aren’t metaphors, they actually happened. And, the author isn’t trying to follow a plot structure, the author is trying to organize the story details into a plot that people can follow.

And, other types of nonfiction are less concerned about plot, and more concerned about sharing information. Book length projects might have a plot, but many scholarly works and periodicals don’t need a plot, and many works of journalism follow the Inverted Pyramid . (There are, always, exceptions to these generalities.)

To summarize: Writing fiction involves crafting a story to create metaphors for the human experience. Writing nonfiction involves organizing factual information into a story that readers will best understand.

Outside of these differences, fiction and nonfiction typically utilize the same elements, at least in varying degrees. They both have characters, storylines, and themes, they both benefit from the tactics of stylish writing , and they both seek to inform, move, and captivate their readers.

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Home / Book Writing / Fiction vs Nonfiction: Definitions, Examples, and Ideas

Fiction vs Nonfiction: Definitions, Examples, and Ideas

There are a lot of terms to remember in the world of book publishing. But two of the most important ones are fiction and nonfiction. These two writing terms are similar to a 10,000-foot view. They split all books into two categories, which each have many of their own genres and subgenres . 

However, things aren't as straightforward as they seem. To complicate things, there can be some overlap between the two categories, so it's important to familiarize yourself with them. And that's just what we'll do in this fiction vs nonfiction article. 

• The definition of fiction.
• The definition of nonfiction.
• Examples of each. 
• How creative nonfiction blurs the line between the two.

Table of contents

• What's the Difference Between Fiction and Nonfiction?
• Fiction Book Examples 
• Nonfiction Book Examples
• What is Creative Nonfiction?
• Why Do People Read Fiction and Nonfiction?
• Finding Ideas for Fiction and Nonfiction Books

The difference between works of fiction and nonfiction is simple: fiction is not true while nonfiction is true.  

In other words, fiction books may be inspired by true events and/or people, but the narrative or significant portions of the story have been made up by the author. Nonfiction books, on the other hand, are entirely based in reality and backed up with facts or objective truths. 

These terms aren't just used in writing, though. Movies are considered works of fiction, whereas documentaries are works of nonfiction. 

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You've probably also heard these two terms used to refer to other things, too. For instance, many politicians have been accused at one time or another of presenting fiction as fact. In other words, lying. 

Likewise, the news is supposed to be nonfiction, but the lines have been increasingly blurred in recent years. And on the internet, it can be very difficult to tell what's fiction and what's nonfiction these days. 

Thankfully, we don't need to dive into politics for our discussion. We'll stick to books. Let's take a closer look at each category. 

What is Fiction? (With Examples)

Sometimes it can be easy to tell if what you're reading is fictional writing. If there are people flying around in tights fighting each other to the structural detriment of the city, you can bet it's a fictional story. 

Other times, it's not so easy. There are plenty of realistic fiction stories that seem like they could happen in real life. The fictional characters are three-dimensional , the setting is a real city, and the storyline doesn't stretch the limits of your belief. But they're all a product of the author's imagination, which is what separates fiction from nonfiction.  

Police procedurals, romances, geopolitical thrillers, and historical fiction novels are often like this. Of course, there are exceptions in every genre. 

If a book says it's a novel , there's a good bet it's a work of fiction. However, there is such a thing as a nonfiction novel, which makes things a little more complicated. More on that later. For now, let's take a look at some famous examples of fiction books.

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
• It by Stephen King
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Almost all fiction authors bring their own experiences into their stories in one way or another. But the distinction is that the storyline is something that never actually happened. The characters may be inspired by real people, but any similarities are unintentional. 

A thriller author who reads about a bank robbery in the news may use certain aspects of that real-life event in his new fiction book. But this is very different from a nonfiction author detailing the lives of the real person who robbed the bank and the real events that followed. The nonfiction author would have to do extensive research, interview people, and back everything up with multiple sources. 

What is Nonfiction? (With Examples)

Largely, nonfiction texts can be considered informational, but this doesn't mean they're dry or uninteresting. It really depends on the author, the type of book, and the subject matter. 

An informational text on computer coding will be very different from a celebrity's memoir. Likewise, a history book about the American Civil War will be very different from a self-help book detailing proven ways to build confidence.

But all these books have one thing in common: They are based in reality. The nonfiction writer can't just make up random instructions for learning to code. There are certain protocols to follow. 

Similarly, if a celebrity publishes a memoir that turns out to be partially (or fully) fabricated, they will have some very angry readers on their hands. Then again, if the celebrity published the book as a novel, readers would go in knowing that what they were about to read wasn't wholly true. 

• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau
• The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

While fiction writing and nonfiction writing require many of the same skills, they are also different in many ways. Obviously, fiction writers need not worry about whether their story is true. They can add a character or take ten away. They can twist the imaginary events to fit their needs. 

On the other hand, nonfiction writing means significant research into often complex topics. Getting things right is of the utmost importance for the nonfiction writer . 

Ever since Truman Capote published In Cold Blood in 1966, the line between fiction and nonfiction has blurred. Considered one of the most impactful pieces of literature of the last century, this true crime book is often called a nonfiction novel —something unheard of until that time. This is because of the way Capote wrote the book. 

Although detailing an atrocious crime that took place in 1959, the book reads like a novel. Capote adds enough detail and presents the story in such a manner that critics say there was no way he could've found out many of these things after the fact. He was accused of fabricating scenes to fit the story, as well as making up dialogue. Capote did extensive research while writing the book and insisted that everything he wrote was true. 

Although certainly not the first piece of creative nonfiction writing, In Cold Blood is perhaps the best known. It kicked off what is called “New Journalism” and helped popularize narrative nonfiction, which is exemplified today in many memoirs and true crime books. 

In general terms, people read fiction for pleasure . That is, they hope to be entertained when they pick up a fictional book. The form that entertainment comes in differs from person to person and book to book. 

A reader of space opera science fiction likely wants a sprawling, epic story of interplanetary politics and interstellar conflict. A reader of romance likely wants to feel the excitement of a budding relationship and rejoice in a happily-ever-after ending. 

A reader of nonfiction usually wants to learn something, solve a problem, or become better informed . A reader may pick up a nonfiction book to learn a new skill, better their life in some way, or even read about human history. Some of the most ubiquitous nonfiction books are cookbooks, although the advent of the internet is changing this dynamic as we speak. 

Deciding what you want to write is not always as easy as choosing between fiction and nonfiction. Many writers do both. But finding an idea with a market you can break into can be even harder. If you want to become a full-time writer, or just write a book that improves your bank account, then it's a good idea to do a little research first. 

For this, we recommend using the Publisher Rocket tool. Even with the thousands of books uploaded onto Amazon every day, there are certain markets that are still underserved and hungry for new content. So whether you're a nonfiction or fiction writer, you can use Publisher Rocket to get a behind-the-scenes look at the categories, keywords, and competition on Amazon. 

Writing to market is the best way to succeed in self-publishing . And with Publisher Rocket , you can get insights directly from Amazon on:

• Which categories have low competition but high monthly searches. 
• What subgenres you can target when you publish your book. 
• Whether you should “go wide” and publish on many platforms or try your hand with exclusivity through Amazon's KDP Select program, also known as Kindle Unlimited . 
• What keywords and phrases you can use in your Amazon ad campaigns after publishing. 

Learn more about Publisher Rocket here .

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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Understanding the Difference Between Fiction and Nonfiction: A Comprehensive Guide

Defining fiction and nonfiction, characteristics of fiction, characteristics of nonfiction, genres of fiction and nonfiction, popular fiction genres, popular nonfiction genres, reading fiction and nonfiction, benefits of reading fiction, benefits of reading nonfiction, writing fiction and nonfiction, tips for writing fiction, tips for writing nonfiction, recommended books and authors, notable fiction authors, notable nonfiction authors, explore more about fiction and nonfiction, literary events, resources for authors.

If you've ever wondered whether fiction is real or fake, you're not alone. Many people ask this question, which is why this comprehensive guide is here to help. In this blog, we'll explore the differences between fiction and nonfiction, their various genres, and the benefits of reading and writing both types of literature. Whether you're a reader or a writer, understanding these differences will enhance your literary journey.

Before diving into the specifics, let's first define the terms fiction and nonfiction. In simple words, fiction is fake, while nonfiction is real. Fiction is created from the author's imagination, and nonfiction is based on facts and real-life experiences. Now let's explore the characteristics of each.

Fiction includes stories that are not based on real events or people. Some key features of fiction are:

• Imaginary characters, settings, and plots
• Often contains a beginning, middle, and end
• Can explore themes, emotions, and experiences beyond reality
• May be inspired by real-life events or people, but the story itself is not factual

Remember, when asking "is fiction real or fake?", the answer is that fiction is, in fact, fake.

Nonfiction, on the other hand, is based on real events, people, and experiences. Some key features of nonfiction are:

• Reliable and verifiable information
• Based on facts, research, and real-life events
• Includes various formats such as essays, biographies, and documentaries
• May present opinions, but should be backed by evidence and logical reasoning

When it comes to nonfiction, the answer to "is fiction real or fake?" is that nonfiction is real.

Both fiction and nonfiction have numerous genres, allowing readers to explore a wide range of topics. Let's take a look at some of the popular genres in each category.

Fiction offers countless worlds to explore and various storylines to enjoy. Some popular fiction genres are:

• Science Fiction: Stories set in futuristic worlds, often featuring advanced technology and extraterrestrial beings
• Fantasy: Imaginary worlds filled with magic, mythical creatures, and supernatural elements
• Romance: Love stories with strong emotional connections between characters
• Mystery: Puzzling stories centered around solving a crime or uncovering a secret
• Horror: Tales designed to evoke fear, suspense, or dread in the reader

As you explore these genres, remember that they are all part of the fictional realm and are not based on real events or people.

Nonfiction genres cover a vast array of subjects, offering insights into the real world. Some popular nonfiction genres include:

• Biography: A detailed account of a person's life, often written by someone else
• Autobiography: A person's life story, written by the person themselves
• History: Books about past events, often providing context and analysis of specific time periods or events
• Self-help: Guides aimed at helping readers improve various aspects of their lives, such as relationships, careers, or personal development
• Travel: Books about various destinations, often including personal experiences, cultural insights, and practical tips for travelers

Unlike fiction, the stories and information found in nonfiction genres are based on real-life experiences, people, and events.

Reading both fiction and nonfiction offers a multitude of benefits, from expanding your imagination to acquiring new knowledge. Let's dive into the unique advantages of each type of literature.

Fiction may be made up, but that doesn't mean it can't have a real impact on your life. Some benefits of reading fiction include:

• Improved Empathy: By immersing yourself in the lives of fictional characters, you can develop a deeper understanding of others' feelings and viewpoints.
• Enhanced Imagination: Fiction invites you to explore new worlds and possibilities, allowing your creativity to flourish.
• Increased Vocabulary: Reading fiction exposes you to a wide array of words and phrases, which can help expand your vocabulary.
• Reduced Stress: Engaging in a captivating story can help you unwind and escape from the pressures of daily life.

Even though fiction isn't based on real events, it can still provide valuable lessons and insights into human nature.

Nonfiction offers a wealth of information and knowledge, helping you understand the world around you. Some benefits of reading nonfiction include:

• Increased Knowledge: Nonfiction books provide factual information, which can help you gain a better understanding of various subjects and topics.
• Improved Critical Thinking Skills: Analyzing and evaluating the information presented in nonfiction can sharpen your ability to think critically and make informed decisions.
• Personal Growth: From self-help books to biographies, nonfiction can inspire you to learn from others' experiences and apply new insights to your own life.
• Enhanced Communication Skills: Reading nonfiction can expose you to different writing styles and techniques, which can improve your ability to express yourself effectively.

By diving into nonfiction, you can gain a deeper understanding of the world and how it works, making it easier to differentiate between what is real and what is fake.

Whether you're an aspiring author or just enjoy writing for fun, exploring both fiction and nonfiction can help you develop your skills and find your unique voice. Let's take a look at some helpful tips for writing each type of literature.

Writing fiction allows you to create your own characters, settings, and storylines. Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Create Believable Characters: Develop well-rounded characters with distinct personalities, motivations, and backgrounds to make your story more engaging and relatable.
• Establish a Compelling Setting: Build a vivid and immersive world for your characters to inhabit, whether it's a futuristic city or a small town from the past.
• Develop an Engaging Plot: Keep readers hooked by crafting a storyline with a clear beginning, middle, and end, filled with conflict, twists, and resolutions.
• Edit, Edit, Edit: Refine your work by revising and polishing your story, fixing inconsistencies, and tightening up your prose.

Remember that fiction is all about imagination, so don't be afraid to take risks and push boundaries.

Writing nonfiction involves sharing facts, insights, and information with your readers. Here are some tips to help you craft compelling nonfiction work:

• Choose Your Topic Wisely: Pick a subject you're passionate about and knowledgeable in, as your enthusiasm and expertise will shine through in your writing.
• Conduct Thorough Research: Gather accurate and reliable information from credible sources to ensure your writing is factually sound and informative.
• Organize Your Thoughts: Arrange your material in a logical and coherent manner, using headings, subheadings, and bullet points to make your work easy to navigate and understand.
• Develop a Clear and Engaging Writing Style: Write in a concise and accessible manner, using anecdotes, examples, and analogies to help convey complex ideas or concepts.

Whether you're writing a memoir, a how-to guide, or a historical account, always strive to provide your readers with valuable and accurate information.

If you're interested in exploring more about fiction and nonfiction, here's a list of notable authors and their works that can help you better understand and appreciate these literary forms. This collection features a variety of genres and styles, offering something for everyone.

• J.K. Rowling: Known for the beloved Harry Potter series, Rowling's imaginative storytelling and unforgettable characters have captivated readers of all ages.
• George Orwell: A master of political fiction, Orwell's works like "1984" and "Animal Farm" provide thought-provoking commentary on society, power, and human nature.
• Jane Austen: With her witty and engaging prose, Austen's classic novels such as "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma" offer timeless insights into love, family, and social dynamics.
• Ernest Hemingway: Renowned for his distinctive writing style, Hemingway's novels like "The Old Man and the Sea" and "A Farewell to Arms" explore themes of courage, loss, and human endurance.
• Mary Roach: With a talent for making complex subjects accessible, Roach's books like "Stiff" and "Gulp" delve into the fascinating worlds of science and human curiosity.
• Malcolm Gladwell: A skilled storyteller, Gladwell's works such as "Outliers" and "The Tipping Point" examine the hidden patterns and forces that shape our lives and society.
• Michelle Alexander: In her groundbreaking book "The New Jim Crow," Alexander offers a powerful and compelling analysis of race, justice, and mass incarceration in America.
• Bill Bryson: Combining humor, history, and travel, Bryson's books like "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and "Notes from a Small Island" take readers on entertaining and informative journeys.

Exploring the works of these accomplished authors can help you develop a deeper appreciation for both fiction and nonfiction, and perhaps even inspire you to try your hand at writing your own stories or essays. Remember, the question "is fiction real or fake" can lead to a broader understanding of the many facets of literature and the power of storytelling.

Now that you have an understanding of fiction and nonfiction, as well as some great authors to check out, it's time to dive deeper into the literary world. There are plenty of ways to explore and appreciate these two forms of writing, from attending events to joining book clubs or tapping into resources for aspiring authors. Let's take a closer look at some of these opportunities.

• Book festivals: These gatherings often feature author panels, readings, workshops, and book signings, providing a unique opportunity to meet your favorite writers and discover new ones.
• Writing workshops: Whether you're an aspiring writer or simply looking to improve your skills, writing workshops can be a valuable resource for learning from experienced authors and peers.
• Author talks and readings: Many bookstores, libraries, and universities host events where authors share their stories, discuss their work, and offer insights into the writing process.
• Local book clubs: Joining a book club in your community can be a great way to connect with fellow readers, share your thoughts on various titles, and discover new authors and genres.
• Online book clubs: If you're unable to attend in-person meetings, online book clubs offer a convenient alternative for discussing your favorite reads and connecting with other book lovers.
• Special interest clubs: For those who have specific preferences, there are book clubs dedicated to specific genres, authors, or themes, allowing you to dive deeper into your literary interests.
• Writing groups: Connecting with other writers can provide valuable feedback, encouragement, and camaraderie as you work on your own fiction or nonfiction projects.
• Online resources: Websites, blogs, and forums dedicated to writing offer a wealth of information on topics such as craft, publishing, and marketing, helping you hone your skills and navigate the literary landscape.
• Writing courses: Whether you're new to writing or looking to refine your skills, enrolling in a writing course can offer guidance and instruction from experienced authors and educators.

By taking advantage of these opportunities, you can deepen your understanding of fiction and nonfiction and further explore the question "is fiction real or fake?" Remember, the world of literature is vast and diverse, and there's always more to discover.

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• Key Differences

Know the Differences & Comparisons

Difference Between Fiction and Nonfiction

Fiction can be understood as the literary work created as per one’s imagination, i.e. the author’s creative thought or made-up stories and characters. On the other hand, reading a nonfictional work means you are reading something that actually happened or someone that actually exist, i.e. it is not a cooked up story, rather it is fact and evidence-based account.

Now, in this article, we are going to look at the differences between fiction and nonfiction

Content: Fiction Vs Nonfiction

Comparison chart, definition of fiction.

Fiction can be understood as an imaginative creation, which does not exist in reality, rather it is produced by the author’s creative thought. It is a type of imaginative prose literature, which can be both spoken or written account containing imaginary characters, events and descriptions.

Writing fiction means that the writer creates their own fantasy world, in their minds and introduce it to the rest of the world through the book. As the story is not real and factual, they cook it up in a way that makes it very interesting and engaging.

From the reader’s point of view, fictional work refers to the creative fabrication of a fantasy world, by the author, i.e. the author imagines the entire story and its characters, the overall plot, dialogues and setting.

The work of fictions is never based on a true story, and so when we go through such works, it visualizes such situation which we may never face in reality or we will come across those characters who we may never get a chance to meet in our real life and also take us to a world where we may never go otherwise.

It is that form of entertainment or art which contains hypothetical plot and characteristics in any format, such as comics, television programs, audio recordings, drama, novel, novella, short story, fairy tales, films, fables, etc. It includes writing related to mystery, suspense, crime thrillers, fantasies, science fiction, romance, etc.

So, fictional writings have the ability to inspire, or change the perspectives towards life, engage in the story, surprise with the twist and turn and also scare or amaze with the ending.

Definition of Nonfiction

Nonfiction is the widest form of literature which contains informative, educational and factual writings. It is a true account or representation of a particular subject. It claims to portray authentic and truthful information, description, events, places, characters or existed things.

Although, the statements and explanation provided may or may not be exact and so it is possible that it provides a true or false narrative of the subject which is talked about. Nevertheless, the author who created the account often believes or claim it to be true, when it is being created.

When a nonfictional work is created, the emphasis is given to the simplicity, clarity, and straightforwardness. It encompasses essays, expository, memoirs, self-help, documentaries, textbooks, biographies and autobiographies, newspaper report and books on history, politics, science, technology, business and economics.

The main purpose of reading nonfictional books is to learn more about a subject and increase the knowledge base.

Key Differences Between Fiction and Nonfiction

Upcoming points will explain the difference between fiction and nonfiction

• Fiction is a literary work which contains the imaginary world, i.e. characters, situation, setting and dialogue. On the flip side, nonfiction implies that type of writing which provides true information or contains such facts or events which are real.
• Fiction is subjective in nature, as the author has the freedom to add his opinion or perspective to the writeup. As well as the writer can elaborate any character, plot or setting as per his imagination. However, nonfiction is objective because the writer cannot add his/her opinion, as it is purely fact-based and authentic and because there is no scope for imagination, the writer needs to be straightforward.
• When writing fiction, the author has the flexibility, to move the story in the direction which make it more exciting and interesting. Conversely, nonfictional writers do not have such flexibility because they have to provide information which is true and real.
• In a fictional work, the writer is of the opinion that the audience will follow and understand the theme which is hidden in the content. In fact, the story can be interpreted by the readers in different ways depending on their level of understanding. As against, in a nonfictional work, there is a simple and direct presentation of the information and facts. So, there is only one interpretation.
• The main purpose of writing fiction is to entertain the readers, whereas nonfiction writing educates the reader about a subject or to further their knowledge about something.
• In fictional writing, references may or may not be provided by the author. On the other hand, in nonfictional writing references are provided compulsorily by the writer wherever required, so as to make the writing more credible.
• Fiction is always from the perspective of the narrator, i.e. the writer, or the character, i.e. the main or supporting character of the story. In contrast, non-fiction is always from the perspective of the author.

By and large, fiction and nonfiction are diametrically opposite to one another. In a fictional work, most of the part is imaginary i.e. scripted by the author. Fictional stories help the readers to take a break from their everyday boring life, and lost in the dreamy world of excitement, for quite some time.

On the contrary, nonfiction is all about factual stories, that emphasize on actual events, characters and places. It tends to teach and explain things to the readers.

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Guides • Perfecting your Craft

Last updated on Apr 23, 2021

How to Write a Nonfiction Book in 6 Steps

Writing a nonfiction book is a good way to share your story, impart your wisdom, or even build your business. And while you may not have thought about becoming an author before, it’s not as far-fetched a goal as you might think. In this post, we'll show you a simple process for becoming a nonfiction author. Hold onto that book idea of yours, and let’s see how we can turn it into something that readers will love.

How to write a nonfiction book:

1. Determine what problem your book will solve

2. outline your book with a logical structure, 3. choose a style guide to remain consistent, 4. blast through your messy first draft, 5. revise your manuscript and check your facts, 6. choose to publish traditionally or independently.

When you start out, your idea is likely to be nebulous or vague, e.g. “It’s a self-help book for new parents.” Before you put pen to paper, you need to crystallize and tighten your original idea, as well as think about your target audience and your author platform . Using that information and the tips below, you can validate your book idea, find a sense of direction in your writing, and prepare for when you send out a book proposal , if you want to traditionally publish. 

FREE RESOURCE

Book Proposal Template

Craft a professional pitch for your nonfiction book with our handy template.

Nail down your book idea

A key part of figuring out how to write a nonfiction book is being able to answer the three important "W" questions:

• What is it about?
• Why does it matter, and why should you write it?
• Who will want to read it — or rather, who is your target audience ?

Once you can answer these questions, you can fill in the blanks below:

[The who] will read my book about [the what] because [the why].

For example: "CEOs will read my book about workplace culture because it offers insights into the practices of the top ten companies voted 'best places' to work in the USA."

Being able to distill your book down in this way is a good sign you have a solid concept, and that your book will ultimately be marketable. If you can’t answer one of those questions, it may be time to return to the drawing board and tighten up your book’s main idea.

Research your topic

Once you’ve pinned down your idea, , you’ll want to dig a bit into the topic or the nonfiction genre of your book to find the leads to develop this idea. Research is very important, and it can come in many shapes and sizes depending on the project. Here are a few of the different types of research that are suitable for certain genres.

💭 If you’re writing a memoir

We’ve got a whole guide on how to write a memoir here with more research tips, but if there’s one thing we recommend you do, it’s to interview yourself. Ask yourself questions that strangers might ask you. A simple interview like this can help you reassess your memories and pull out the important bits of your story. (And of course, you can always have someone else interview you too!) 

🔧 If you’re writing a how-to 

Your research may involve collecting all sorts of existing material on the subject — such as blog posts and previously published essays. You might want to test some of the methods out in order to home in on the most effective instructions. 

☯ If you’re writing self-help

When writing a self-help book , you might want to reach out to experts, such as psychologists and inspirational speakers, who can provide more evidence and insight to what you already know. If you're an expert yourself, you can interview yourself as you would for a memoir. It also doesn’t hurt to check out some of the best self-help books for inspiration!

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⏳ If you’re writing a history or biography

You’ll be gathering resources in libraries and archives, looking at primary and secondary sources on the matter. And if you’re writing about someone who’s still alive, you’ll probably need access to said person, or at least have their consent before forging on with the research. 

💼 If you’re writing a business book 

This requires a lot of understanding of the market that you’re writing about, be it the one concerning stocks or houseplants (see more of what we mean in our guide on how to write an ebook ). You have to find out who might be interested in the products you're talking about, what their habits are like, where they usually go to for advice on matters related to the product — the list goes on. If you really want to dive into this route, perhaps this free course of ours can be of some help… 

Free course: How to write a business book

How can writing a book revolutionize your business? Only one way to find out.

Like fiction, where story structure can make or break a narrative , nonfiction relies on the reader being able to follow the writer’s leaps of logic. Since nonfiction is all about utility, structure is of the utmost importance in guiding the reader toward the information they need. You want your structure to be coherent but also gripping, so that readers want to read on and remember what they’ve read.  

Typically, if your book is about a process, or is a how-to, a linear structure makes sense. To make things more exciting for readers, you can also choose to disrupt the linear flow and follow a list or essay structure. Not sure what these structures are? Head on to guide on how to outline a nonfiction book to find the answers (and more planning tips). 

Before you start writing, pick a style guide to follow throughout your book. What’s a style guide, you ask? It’s a set of guidelines to help keep your writing consistent. If you’ve worked with both US English and UK English, you might notice that certain things get spelled differently, i.e. ‘color’ versus ‘colour’. You should choose the variation that best suits your target audience, depending on where they’re based. A manual of style would help ensure you keep to one of those versions, along with some other details like whether you use the Oxford or serial comma, single or double quotation marks, or how to list your references. A popular guide that you might find useful is the Chicago Manual of Style . 

Why do things like this matter? Firstly, a proper guide matters to a nonfiction book because this book is supposed to be factual and accurate. Whether you’re writing popular self-help or more academic pieces, referencing will be a crucial part of your credibility, so you’ll want to nail it from the moment you start. Secondly, being consistent as you write will only help you in the editing process, preventing you from having to correct the same mistakes over and over again. 

Now the planning’s out of the way, there’s nowhere left to run: it’s time to actually sit down and write your first draft. Luckily, we've got plenty of writing tips to help you out!

Use storytelling techniques 

Almost anything is more comprehensible and memorable when told as a story. Stories are easier to follow along, they get readers invested in the topic and curious about what happens next, and they tend to be more memorable than just hard facts. Which is why you should think about the stories that you can tell through your nonfiction book, and how to get the most out of them. 

So when you use anecdotal evidence, think about the person (a.k.a. character) involved, what their motivations and feelings are. How can those motives and sensations be linked to your main point? If you can, the fact that you’re sharing will be that much more meaningful to the reader because they've associated it with a story. Of course, you shouldn’t embellish facts and end up in the realm of fiction, but an eye for narrative detail is a big asset for a nonfiction author.

Hear it from another author: Harry Freedman shared his process with us in this Reedsy Live! 

Include dialogue 

Continuing on from the previous point, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use dialogue in your nonfiction writing. It’s a given that you’d use it in creative nonfiction, but it’s also a great way to break up dense texts and add a human voice to your book. If you have a transcript or a record of a direct quote, you can write it as dialogue . If not, feel free to refer to what was being said as something you’ve been told, rather than something someone said. The difference is subtle (as you can see in the example below), but either way, including conversations make the writing more accessible and interesting to read. 

“I bought a lot of ice cream that week where there was a heatwave,” Joe said.  Hot weather makes people crave ice cream — I remember my neighbor, Joe, stocking up in preparation for a heatwave. 

Of course, it goes without saying that in academic writing this might not be the most conventional or professional option. But if you have a clear recording of the conversation, and you see the value of including it in your book, then you can do it. Note, however, that the formatting for dialogues in academic writing especially may be different from the ones you see in fiction writing (this is why we cannot emphasize enough the need to find an appropriate editor). 

Avoid jargon 

This just might be the most important piece of advice we can give you: keep your use of jargon and complicated language to a minimum. This does not mean that you have to cut away every expert term you have in your vocabulary, it just means you should use them mindfully. Remember that you may be writing for a quite a big audience, many of whom might not know what you’re talking about. Not only will they need you to explain the term when you first introduce it, they’ll also be less likely to remember these terms if they’ve only just met them. 

As such, you want to minimize the use of jargon in your writing. If there’s a simpler way to express something, use it. It might feel like you’re killing your darlings , but it will most likely be appreciated by your readers.If you must use specialist vocab, be sure to define it and add refreshers where necessary.

Have a writing schedule 

Our final tip is one for your process: create a writing schedule for yourself, whichever fits your own timetable and writing habits the most. Perhaps you have a day job and work best when you have a specific time to write at the end of the day. Or maybe you work better with a monthly goal of finishing certain sections and chapters in mind. Either way, setting out time to write regularly will help you progress and keep you from losing motivation.  

If you think learning how to write a nonfiction book is all about the actual writing, you’re forgetting another crucial dimension of the book business: editing. Most manuscripts go through several rounds of revisions before they reach their final form, and the first round should always be a self-edit. So don’t hold back: it’s time for you to ruthlessly edit your book . Here are some of our best tips for you. 

Double-check your facts 

It should go without saying, but this is probably the most important part of editing your nonfiction book. Whenever you refer to a fact, a historical event, or an argument that another academic has previously made, you have to make sure that it’s accurate. On top of that, you’ll have to add a footnote and reference at the end, listing your sources. You don’t want to be sharing false facts or accused of paraphrasing other’s works! 

As such, combing through and checking your facts is essential. It can be quite a tedious task, and you can never be too careful, so having a second pair of eyes on your manuscript is always a good idea.

Perfect your manuscript with professional help

The top nonfiction editors are on Reedsy, and you can meet them for free

Learn how Reedsy can help you craft a beautiful book.

Cut down on excessive information 

While we’re on the topic of facts, let’s talk about being overly informative. Can a book that’s supposed to educate ever be provide too much information? Turns out too much of anything can be bad. 

Everything in your book should link back to the main problem that you’re addressing. Sometimes it’s tempting to drop in a fun fact or anecdote that you think readers might find entertaining, but it’s important to balance that with the coherence of your book. So as you reread your first draft, think about the purpose behind the pieces of information you lay out, and remove those that don’t aid in answering the main question of your book. 

Shorten your sentences

The style guide you picked at the beginning will probably have you covered in terms of punctuation and grammar. What it can’t cover is your sentence length. Most sentences in first drafts err on the longer side — we tend to use more conjunctions than necessary to connect phrases and ideas that are interlinked. However, it’s often easier for readers to take in the details bit by bit. 

Aim for 20-30 words sentences, which should max out at about two lines in the standard Times New Roman, 12-point font. Anything longer than 50 words should be avoided as much as possible. 

Looking for more tips to refine your nonfiction writing? Reedsy editor Jenn Lien shared plenty in this seminar! 

Self-edits all done? That means you’re ready for the next steps of your publishing journey. The next question to ask yourself is how you’ll be putting this book of yours into the world: will it be through a publisher, or will you produce the book independently? There’s a lot to consider when debating the pros and cons of traditional and self-publishing , but as a nonfiction writer, you might find doing it yourself beneficial, because:

• Publishing is much faster without having to go through agents and publishers;
• You probably have or are building an online presence already and can use that to effectively market your book ;
• You get most of the royalties. 

That said, we’ll share some tips to get you ready for either pathway below. And if you’re still on the fence about the next steps, maybe this little quiz can help you out! 

Is self-publishing or traditional publishing right for you?

Takes one minute!

Self-publishing 

If you’ve decided to become an indie author , here are some things you might want to do once you finish your manuscript. (Remember that although you’re self-publishing, you won’t have to do everything by yourself! Professional help is at hand.) 

✍ Hire an editor (if you haven’t already). At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we can’t recommend hiring a professional editor enough. A fresh perspective will always help when it comes to the nitty gritty details. 

🎨 Work with a professional cover designer. In the digital age, the decision to buy a book is arguably more heavily influenced by the appeal of the cover — it’s the thumbnails on Amazon that do much of the work! Artistic book covers like these are guaranteed to catch the eye of browsers, which is why you should definitely work with a designer. 

🌐 Get to know Amazon. We know, its influence on our lives is uncanny, but there’s hardly a better place to reach your audience than Amazon. From printing the books to promoting it, there are all the tools you need on this platform to achieve self-publishing success. This guide on Amazon self-publishing will shed some light on how that can be done. 

Traditional publishing 

Going down the traditional route means that the publisher will take care of most areas of finishing up the product, from the edit to cover design. However, to get to that point, you’ll need to follow some pretty standard steps. 

📬 Query an agent. Most large publishers don’t accept unsolicited submissions from authors, meaning they require representation from a literary agent. Some resources we have for those looking to query are:

• Writing a Nonfiction Query Letter (with Free Sample) (blog post)
• The Best Nonfiction Literary Agents to Submit to (directory) 

📖 Submit a book proposal. Together with an agent, you’ll have to pitch a publisher with a book proposal. This proposal includes your book’s synopsis, its target audience and competitive titles, as well as a sample of one or two of the chapters. So while you don’t need a complete manuscript before you submit, a rough draft will no doubt be helpful. For a bit more detail on the process, check out our free course on how to submit a nonfiction proposal. 

Free course: How to submit a book proposal

Get publishers excited about your nonfiction book in this 10-day online course.

Now that you know how to write a nonfiction book, the publishing world is your oyster! Whatever path you take, we wish you the best of luck. And if you do decide to publish, we can’t wait to see what you’ve created. 

David Irvine says:

05/12/2019 – 16:58

I self-published all my books for free using the Amazon KDP software. It was a bit of a high learning curve but worth the time and effort. You can also create a really nice front cover using their cover creator. Anyway, nice write up with plenty of good tips for writers seeking to get published.

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The Truth About Fiction vs. Nonfiction

Aminatta forna, from reporter to novelist, and everything in between.

Some years ago I was invited to judge a literature prize. The prize was awarded on the basis of a writer’s body of work, but the prize organizers had limited the scope to works of fiction. Works of non-fiction by the same writer were not included. This made no sense to me and I said so. As a novelist and essayist I see the two forms as conjoined twins, sharing themes and concerns, which all come out of the same brain, but flow into two separate entities. The same is true of every writer I can think of who writes both fiction and non-fiction. Marilynne Robinson’s novels Gilead , Home and Housekeeping and her powerful essays examine her reflections on Christanity and morality. Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera, Chronicle of a Death Foretold and News of a Kidnapping tell of the history and making of modern Colombia. Michael Ondaatje says he wrote first his memoir Running in the Family about growing up in Sri Lanka, but felt the need to turn to fiction to write about the Sri Lankan civil war. Aleksandar Hemon’s Nowhere Man and his collection of essays The Book of My Lives excavate themes of loss and displacement from his hometown of Sarajevo.

Twelve years ago I was being interviewed on the radio about my debut novel Ancestor Stones , the first thing I had published following a memoir which had garnered a fair bit of attention. The novel told the stories of four women, each sisters growing up in a different era of a country’s history. The interviewer asked me a question that confounded me. Why I hadn’t written it as a work of nonfiction, she wanted to know. I replied that it would have been difficult, the people didn’t exist and the events I described in their lives hadn’t happened. Later I spent a little time pondering that question. Did the interviewer, who had spoken to hundreds of writers in her career as a critic and radio host, really have so little understanding of the process? I wondered if she thought, as I discovered a good many people lazily assumed, that the family described in the story was nothing more than a lightly disguised version of my own. The historical background to the stories was true, sure, but the stories themselves, the people, I had made all that up.

A while later I was guest lecturer at a British university giving a talk and reading from my memoir to a group of students of creative nonfiction. My publishers had described the book as a “story of a father, a family, a country and a continent.” I had grown up in Sierra Leone, the daughter of a political activist and dissident. The story I told was of my search to uncover events surrounding my father’s murder in the 1970s when I was eleven years old. Back then the kind of political upheaval that was played out in Sierra Leone was being played out all over the continent as nascent democracies of newly independent nations were hijacked by authoritarian regimes.

At the end of the session a middle-aged woman raised her hand: “Why,” she asked “had I gone to all the bother of writing a work of nonfiction when I could just as easily have written a novel.” To write the truest account I could mattered, I answered, a little testily, because these things actually happened. It mattered to my family, to the participants, the witnesses, and the people of the country. This was a book about how oppression unchecked causes a country to implode 25 years later, part of an unveiling of the things that had happened and never been spoken about.

“Each time a writer begins a book they make a contract with all the people who buy their book.”

I began my working career as a journalist, because having grown up in a country where the state controlled the newspapers and the narrative and fed misinformation to the public, truth telling was important to me. In this era of “fake news” my background as a journalist has turned out to be a useful one. I was trained to fact check and to question the reliability of each and every source, and hence these days I’m astonished to discover the credulity of the public, including some friends and Facebook acquaintances, who take apparently at face value stories which would not withstand a few moments scrutiny. “Fake news” has been around a long time from Joseph Goebbels to the British tabloids and the American entertainment magazines. What has changed thanks to social media is the mode and speed of delivery, also the messenger, from basement trolls, to Russian bots all the way to the leader of a Western superpower, who according to various sources lies publicly roughly five or six times a day, whilst at the same time condemning the output of the mainstream media as fake.

A decade after I joined the BBC however, I was done. I was never content as a reporter for a large organization. The problem, I gradually came to realize, was that I was obliged to speak with a voice not my own but another voice belonging to another kind of person. It was the voice of the BBC, a reflection of the broadcaster’s viewers and listeners, people who had on the whole lived lives quite unlike my own, who took for granted a shared knowledge, shared levels of experience, of familiarity and unfamiliarity with their world and the world beyond. They were the great middle class of middle England, and I was not one of them. The voice stuck in my craw. Everyone writes for their own reasons and if there is one thing that moves me to set out my thoughts on paper it is this: that ever since the years of my childhood I have never seen the world the way I am constantly being told it is and I could only do so in my own voice.

In the time I have been writing there have been huge shifts in the sphere of the realm we now call creative nonfiction. Where once most first person nonfiction was generally confined to travel writing, narrative journalism and essays, the late 20th century has seen a huge explosion in personal memoir, from Tobias Wolff and Mary Karr’s tales of family dysfunction to Jung Chang’s “memoir as narrative history,” Wild Swans, set against the historical back-sweep of the Chinese cultural revolution. In nature writing, Annie Dillard’s self-described “theodyssey,” which sees creation in tiny Tinker’s Creek, Helen Macdonald’s exploration of grief and falconry, the expanses of Barry Lopez Arctic Dreams . There are hybrids of every kind: William Fiennes’s account of his brother’s epilepsy combined with the history of the science of the brain in The Music Room , the magic and myth of Maxine Hong Kingston’s Woman Warrior , and again Michael Ondaatje’s Running in the Family which moves beyond the very idea of form.

The writer of creative nonfiction and the writer of fiction have much in common. Both employ the techniques of narrative, plot, pace, mood and tone, considerations of tense and person, the depiction of character, the nuance of dialogue. Where the difference lies is that the primary source of the fiction writer is first and foremost their imagination, followed by their powers of observation and maybe a certain amount of research. The primary resource of the writer of creative nonfiction is lived experience, above and beyond all, memory, add to that observation and research.

Another difference lies in what I call the contract with the reader. Each time a writer begins a book they make a contract with all the people who buy their book. If the book is a work of fiction the contract is pretty vague, essentially saying: “Commit your time and patience to me and I will tell you a story.” There may be a sub-clause about the effort to entertain or to thrill, or some such. In my contract for each of my novels I have promised to try to show my readers the world in a way they have not seen before, or perhaps show it to them in a way they had not considered before. A contract for a work of nonfiction is a more precise affair. The writer says, I am telling you, and to the best of my ability, what I believe to be true. This is a contract not to be broken lightly.

“Where once most first person nonfiction was generally confined to travel writing, narrative journalism and essays, the late 20th century has seen a huge explosion in personal memoir.”

There are those writers of what is published under the heading nonfiction who freely confess to inventing some of their material. Clearly they have a different kind of contract with the reader from mine, or perhaps no contract at all. Whenever I am on stage with memoirists who do this, they start by explaining how the story was improved by those additions and that none of it mattered much anyway. In the words of the British writer Geoff Dyer: “The contrivances in my nonfiction are so factually trivial that their inclusion takes no skin off even the most inquisitorial nose.” And then there are writers such as W.G. Sebald and more recently Karl Ove Knausgaard who deliberately place their work in the twilight zone between fact and fiction. I won’t argue these writers case for them here, they know what they are doing.

For the memoirist who purports to be telling only the truth and then is caught lying a special kind of fury is reserved. In 2003, at a book festival in Auckland I met a woman named Norma Khouri who had written a memoir called Forbidden Love which told the story of the honor killing of her childhood best friend in their native Jordan at the hand of the friend’s own brother. The girl’s supposed crime was to have fallen in love with a Christian. The book sold half a million copies and at the time we met Khouri had founded and was raising money for an organization to save Jordanian women in danger of being killed for “honor.” We appeared on the same panel, afterwards we drank at the bar. Norma was fun, she seemed to have survived her ordeal well, too well some said later, but I know many people who have faced extreme situations and they are often perfectly cheerful. I didn’t think too much about her American accent either, she told me, or perhaps I assumed, that she had been to the International School in Jordan. All in all I spent maybe two hours in her company.

I flew back to the UK and a month or two later I received an email from the panel chair David Leser, a well known Australian journalist and feature writer. He wrote that he had stayed up with Khouri late into the night after we had left the bar, had been deeply moved by her fragility and courage, even, he admitted later in an article, fallen a little in love with her.

“I began my working career as a journalist, because having grown up in a country where the state controlled the newspapers and the narrative and fed misinformation to the public, truth telling was important to me.”

Khouri was a fraud. She had left Jordan for Chicago at the age of three and had not set foot in her homeland since. The whole story had been a hoax. No best friend, no Christian lover, no honor killing. The rage at Khouri lasted for months. A decade later a filmmaker made a documentary about her: Forbidden Lie$, in which Khouri continues to try to vindicate herself, despite the mountain of seemingly irrefutable evidence including accusations of financial misconduct and her inability to provide evidence to prove the existence of her dead friend and her friend’s family. To Leser she admitted she had lied but, she said, for the right reasons. Those who met her including Leser (and me) never could decide whether she was a trickster, a fantasist or even a woman with some hidden trauma of her own.

Everyone, even Norma Khouri, has their own reasons to write, their own justifications for the choices they make, their contract with their readers, their contract with themselves. I ask my students of both fiction and nonfiction, but most of all those who wish to write personal memoirs (perhaps because of all the forms of writing it is the one most often confused with therapy): Why do people need to hear this story? Not, Why do you want to write this story? i.e Not what’s in it for you. What’s in it for them?

When I come to a begin a book it is usually with a question in mind, something I have been thinking about and I want to ask the reader to think about too. What turns the book into a novel is the arrival of a character. Elias Cole, the ambitious, morally equivocating coward in The Memory of Love came to me through a chance remark by a friend about her father, a successful academic who had somehow survived a villainous regime where his colleagues had not. I hired a man to paint my house who I discovered (on the last day) was a thrice imprisoned violent offender. Out of that encounter came Duro, the handyman Laura unthinkingly allows into her holiday home in The Hired Man .

My nonfiction begins with a question too. The difference, if I can pinpoint it, is that with nonfiction when I start to write I believe I may have come up with an answer, an answer of sorts at least. Don DeLillo once quipped that a fiction writer starts with meaning and manufactures events to represent it; the writer of creative nonfiction starts with events, then derives meaning from them. Gillian Slovo, both a novelist and memoirist, once told me that with nonfiction you always know what your story is, with fiction that isn’t necessarily the case. I think there is truth in both statements. It’s easy to lose sight of your story, meaning the deeper truth you are reaching for in fiction, the more it can be a slippery process. When it comes to nonfiction I discard or store numbers of stories, sometimes because I can’t think of the right way to tell them, but more often because although I know the story in narrative terms, I have not yet arrived at its meaning.

The best stories can arrive quite by chance, replete with meaning and maybe even with a great character through whom to tell them. Some years ago a stray dog I had adopted in Sierra Leone and given to a friend was hit by a car. The story of the effort to save her life, which involved many ordinary people in a country still on its knees after ten years of civil war, introduced me to Dr. Gudush Jalloh who was then the only working vet in the country (the others having all fled or been killed). Here was a man who devoted himself to the lives of the city’s street dogs, who, in the face of an announced cull, had stood up to represent the dogs before the City Council, who had driven around at night rousing the local people into action to save the lives of dogs. I wrote an essay for Granta , “The Last Vet,” about Gudush Jalloh, for to me everything about him represented something to which I had been giving a great deal of recent thought, the gap between Western and West African modes of thought. By writing about him I could reveal something to West Africans about their own culture and reverse the gaze on Western culture.

“The conversation,” I later wrote after spending two weeks in his company, will range over days: “African pragmatism and reality, Western sentiment, the schism between the values of the two and the West’s own conflicted treatment of animals. Of Jalloh’s lot in trying to embrace, negotiate and reconcile so many ways of thinking.”

Sometimes meaning comes later. I lived in Tehran when I was 14. The year was 1979, my mother was married to a diplomat who headed the UN’s development projects in the country. I found myself a teenage witness to one the great revolutions of all time, from its heady flowering in the hands of writers and artists, to the crushing of new found freedoms by the mullahs a year later. The events, their sequence and consequence, made no real sense to me at the time.

In the essay 1979 I wrote: “I was, at that time, an ardent revolutionary. I had a poster of Che Guevara on my wall and a sweatshirt bearing his image. I read his speeches and admitted to no one that I found them impenetrable. I was ardent—all I lacked was a revolution. And now here was a revolution [between the progressive authoritarian Shah and the defiant yet regressive Khomeini] and I had no idea whose side I was on.”

Decades later, watching the hopes and disappointment of the Arab Spring those months in Iran came back to me, this time with a fresh understanding, of the ways, the stepping stones, by which freedoms can also be hijacked and subverted. Of never believing it can be that easy.

At other times a thought process, which has been going on for months or even years, might begin to arrange itself into a sort of pattern. Like a pebble in my pocket I carry the notion around, collecting other pebbles which look similar, until I have a pocketful. I’ll spread them out on the table, these notes and observations, looking for the points of connection. Then there comes the moment, hopefully, when I see it. In that way fiction and nonfiction are not so different, that part of the process is the same. With fiction, though, I will begin to search for a narrative with which to veil those ideas.

Here’s Zadie Smith: “Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand—but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.”

And therein lies the difference. In nonfiction the writer seeks to remove the veils, to strip away and to reveal what is really there. On my noticeboard in my office in London I had pinned the lines: “Nonfiction reveals the lies, but only metaphor can reveal the truth.” I don’t know who said it, I’m afraid. I think it was Nadine Gordimer, but I’ve quoted it so many times that on the internet it is now ascribed to me. The quotation seems to me to be intended to elevate fiction as the higher form, and I agree that fiction allows me to reach for another less literal kind of truth. But there is something about stripping away the myths that veil the lies that is vitally satisfying. There , says the writer of nonfiction, I said it! I said it! And so is thus spared the lifelong sadness of never being satisfied.

After a long spell writing fiction I find I inevitably seek recourse in the clarity, the exactitude of nonfiction, a flight from the coyness of fiction. Then comes a time when I have said what needs to be said, facts become constraining and it’s time to revel in the boundless freedoms of the imagination once more. A novel begins with the thought: What if? A work of creative nonfiction begins with words: What is. The writer says to the reader: Wake up, smell the coffee and look at what is there.

The preceding is from the new  Freeman’s  channel at Literary Hub, which will feature excerpts from the print editions of  Freeman’s , along with supplementary writing from contributors past, present and future. The latest issue of  Freeman’s , a special edition featuring 29 of the best emerging writers from around the world, is available now.

Aminatta Forna

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How To Blend Fiction And Nonfiction

The idea of blending fiction and nonfiction may seem strange to some. If you are writing a novel, you might draw on elements and experiences from your real life, but actually switching the way you write, so some parts of your book are fictionalized is not a technique you often come across.

However, there are particular types of books that can lend themselves well to this technique and if you are writing a book that is designed to help people this can be a great way of getting practical information across as well as telling a story that draws readers in and makes your book more exciting and entertaining to read.

Business books, self-help books, any book that is trying to deliver some lesson can mix fiction and nonfiction to make it more readable and to help those who are interested in the book absorb the information without it being too dry or complicated.

So how can you do this?

Begin by planning.

People are on a constant information overload these days. So finding ways to break down important information and make it more interesting and memorable is crucial. Design the characters in your book so that they are realistic but also engaging. Talk to people in relevant industries to give you inside information on what the setting should be, how people would interact, how they would dress, what their interests would be. It is essential to blend fictional characters with the realities of whatever world they inhabit - say a particular business.

Give characters or objects meaning.

Presenting information by telling a story can not only keep your readers interested but also make it easier for them to grasp more complicated concepts. For example, you could have each character in your story be representative of a particular discipline or lesson or strength and, by the characters coming together, they can fully succeed at the task at hand.

Settings give context

Using fictional characters in a setting that is representative of the real culture of a particular business can also help blend elements of fiction and nonfiction together to give a new perspective that allows people to recognize the behaviors and cultures in a specific organization. At the same time, this can help them see how to learn something new or overcome any challenges that might arise.

Pulling it together

Ultimately, if you are writing the kind of book which has a purpose to inform and teach people, this needs to be a priority. However finding creative ways to convey information can make all the difference, and blending fiction and nonfiction together can be an effective way of doing so.

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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10 of the Best New Nonfiction Books To Read in March 2024

Kendra Winchester

Kendra Winchester is a Contributing Editor for Book Riot where she writes about audiobooks and disability literature. She is also the Founder of Read Appalachia , which celebrates Appalachian literature and writing. Previously, Kendra co-founded and served as Executive Director for Reading Women , a podcast that gained an international following over its six-season run. In her off hours, you can find her writing on her Substack, Winchester Ave , and posting photos of her Corgis on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester.

View All posts by Kendra Winchester

As a mood reader, I’m always flitting from one type of story to another, never sure of where to go next. But in the spring, I’m almost always looking for personal narratives. Whether it’s a memoir of an author investigating their mysterious family history or the story of a disability rights advocate sticking it to hateful trolls, I love a person-driven narrative. This is the power of books, to give us a glimpse into someone else’s life.

In celebration of true stories, I’ve collected ten of some of the hottest nonfiction titles hitting shelves in March. You might be new to nonfiction or a true stories pro, but whatever the case, there’s sure to be something on this list that catches your eye.

All publication dates are subject to change.

Beautiful People: My Thirteen Truths About Disability by Melissa Blake (March 5)

When an ableist troll said that Melissa Blake should be banned from posting photos of herself, Blake posted three photos of herself smiling. In her new memoir, Blake writes about her life as a disability rights activist and social media influencer, calling for the nondisabled to take action and become better disability allies.

Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls (March 5)

Feeding Ghosts is a memoir that follows three generations of women, beginning with Hulls’s grandmother, Sun Yi, who flees China with her young daughter, Rose. Sun Yi experiences a mental breakdown, and when Rose moves to the U.S., she eventually brings Sun Yi to live with her.

The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir by RuPaul (March 5)

RuPaul is one of pop culture’s biggest icons. Supermodel, mogul, television producer — RuPaul has done it all. But with his new memoir, he peels back the layers of his life, revealing the experiences from his early life that made him who he is today.

Devout: A Memoir of Doubt by Anna Gazmarian (March 12)

When Anna Gazmarian is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she realizes that her conservative evangelical community will not accept it. She spends the next decade reframing what her community calls a “heart problem” to better understand mental illness and how it impacts her life.

You Get What You Pay For: Essays by Morgan Parker (March 12)

Literary powerhouse Morgan Parker is out with a new collection of essays that examine Parker’s feelings of alienation in just about every part of her life. She describes living with depression and a deep sense of loneliness. She expands from ideas of the personal, giving her readers a bigger picture of Black life in America.

Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson (March 12)

Literary icon Marilynne Robinson is blessing us with a new work of nonfiction where she examines the creation story in Genesis. Robinson walks us through the creation story, including the original King James Version in her text. Robinson emphasizes God’s never-ending love for humanity and His eternal faith in Creation.

How to Make Herself Agreeable to Everyone: A Memoir by Cameron Russell (March 19)

Cameron Russell shares her life as a model, a job she didn’t necessarily even want in the first place. It was an opportunity, and she took it. But it led to years of surviving a sexist, image-obsessed industry that forever warped how she saw her body and understood her sense of self. How to Make Herself Agreeable to Everyone begs us to examine the question, what does it mean to be seen as an object of beauty meant to be enjoyed by others?

The Observable Universe: An Investigation by Heather McCalden (March 19)

When she was a young girl, McCalden lost both her parents to AIDS. She was raised by her grandmother in Los Angeles, a city particularly ravaged by the disease. Later in life, McCalden begins researching HIV/AIDS and realizes that the internet and AIDS developed at the same time in history. The Observable Universe braids together ideas around the internet and HIV/AIDS, giving readers a unique portrait of late 20th-century America.

There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib (March 26)

Poet and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib grew up in Columbus, Ohio, during the 1990s. He watches basketball stars like LeBron James rise from places he could recognize. In There’s Always This Year , he discusses ideas around who we think deserves success and what society decides is exceptional.

dear elia: Letters from the Asian American Abyss by Mimi Khúc (March 26)

In this series of letters, Mimi Khúc examines ideas around mental health and wellness. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, society’s understanding of illness has changed. Khúc argues that we can no longer have Asian American studies without an intersectional understanding of Asian American wellness.

There are so many good books — I don’t know where to start! If you’re looking for even more nonfiction book recommendations, check out 10 New Nonfiction Book Releases of February and 9 New Nonfiction Releases to Read in January .

As always, you can find a full list of new releases in the magical New Release Index , carefully curated by your favorite Book Riot editors, organized by genre and release date.

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Don Winslow says farewell to fiction writing in high style

With ‘city in ruins,’ winslow wraps up a spectacular crime fiction trilogy, a sweeping story that morphs and expands over time.

And so, we come to the end. The end of an exemplary crime fiction trilogy and the self-chosen end of a popular author’s writing career. But I’ve gotten ahead of myself.

With “ City on Fire ” (2022), “ City of Dreams ” (2023) and now “ City in Ruins ,” Don Winslow has written a near-perfect saga: He’s created great characters who grow and develop while remaining true to their essence, and a sweeping story that morphs and expands over time, with the stakes escalating until they reach nosebleed heights at the end. Winslow says he has given up writing novels to devote his time to political activism: “I wanted in the fight. I didn’t want to be writing a fiction obituary of America losing democracy,” he told the Los Angeles Times . With “City in Ruins,” he is saying farewell in high style.

Winslow modeled this trilogy on Virgil’s Roman tragedy “The Aeneid,” an intention made obvious by the epigrams in all three novels. However, you needn’t be a Roman or Greek scholar to enjoy these books (and though it is best to read them in order, it’s not vital). These novels wear their inspiration lightly. The epic poems do not bleed into Winslow’s story but linger like ghosts in the background.

At the center of the three “City” books is Danny Ryan, a Rhode Island version of “a Springsteen kind of guy,” a onetime Providence waterfront worker from a scrappy Irish American family. Over the course of the series, he has gotten mixed up with the mob, fought epic (yet doomed) battles and resurrected himself in Hollywood. After marrying into the family of the king of the Irish mob in Providence, he ends up their reluctant leader in a fatalistic war with the Italians, runs to the West Coast with his family and crew to lie low when it all blows up, manages to claw back his life, gets involved with a movie that’s being made about the Rhode Island mob, and falls in love with a celebrity superstar.

In the final moments of “City of Dreams,” Ryan is in a bad place: in the desert, facing off against a Mexican gang lord who wants to end him. The woman he loves is dead, and he blames himself. Ryan’s life has turned around in the opening of “City in Ruins.” He now owns a casino on the Las Vegas Strip; he’s being a good dad to his son, Ian, with whom he escaped from Rhode Island six years earlier; and he has a psychotherapist girlfriend who’s very different from his previous love interests — in other words, good for him.

But then Ryan decides to indulge his ambition by building a billion-dollar resort casino complex — Il Sogno, which sounds like Las Vegas’s latest wonder, the Sphere , expanded into a full-blown resort. Winslow shows us step by step what it takes to do something this grandiose in Vegas, where everything is supersize, especially the egos.

The project puts Ryan on a crash course with one of his hitherto friendly rivals. Vegas being Vegas, everyone has some connection to the mob, even if it’s distant, and before long Ryan — who thought he had successfully left his gangster past behind — finds himself up to his eyebrows in trouble as old vendettas are resurrected.

Peter Moretti Jr., son of one of Ryan’s former rivals, returns to the States after serving a tour in Iraq only to find out that his mother and her lover are responsible for his father’s death. In a scene involving the clan godfather, Winslow shows how an innocent like Peter Jr. is manipulated into carrying the water for his late father’s crime gang. The rest of this thread is devoted to the courtroom battle between the good district attorney who wants to see Peter Jr. pay for his crimes and the sharpshooting defense attorney who uses every trick at his disposal to get the young man freed.

There’s also Chris Palumbo, the late Peter Sr.’s second-in-command, who took to the wind after a partnership with a crooked FBI agent went south. We see him holed up in Nebraska with a hippie-ish woman (a la Odysseus and Circe in “The Odyssey”) until he comes to realize that he must return to his wife and children back East. He knows he must face the music for his misdeeds and confront the Providence crime gang that wants him dead.

Winslow immerses readers in the hidden world of organized crime, highlighting its inner workings. Whether it’s jousting between lawyers, etiquette among wiseguys or the history of the mob in Las Vegas, Winslow knows how to make the reader feel like one of the cognoscenti. For instance, he shows how he toed the line through the first two books so that Ryan can be in the casino business in Book 3: “Danny’s lawyers argued his cause. ‘There isn’t a single fact linking Mr. Ryan to organized crime,’ the lead attorney said. ‘Not an arrest, not an indictment, never mind a conviction. All you have are rumors and a few articles in the tabloids.’ … The appeal was an effort to keep Danny out of the [Nevada Gaming Control Board’s] dreaded Black Book, which would have prevented him from even entering a casino.”

You can read “City in Ruins” as a meditation on honor, revenge and justice, but the book also challenges readers to examine beliefs about morality. In “City in Ruins,” whether you’re in the world of gangsters or law enforcement or the casino industry, Winslow shows us that morality rides a sliding scale. Ryan is the closest thing the novel has to a hero, trying to inflict the least amount of pain and suffering while saving his family and friends, and willing to sacrifice his dreams as payment for his past sins. In absolutist terms, however, he’s no hero — yet the reader continues to root for him. Even the villains in “City in Ruins” question whether the gods are protecting Danny Ryan or if he will ever get his comeuppance. For the answer, you’re going to have to read the book.

Alma Katsu is the author of eight books, including the Taker trilogy, “The Hunger,” “The Deep” and “The Fervor.” Her latest is “Red London.”

City in Ruins

By Don Winslow

William Morrow. 400 pp. $32

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Men's Health

25 Non-Fiction Books We’re Excited to Read in 2024

Posted: February 22, 2024 | Last updated: February 22, 2024

WAS ONE OF your 2024 goals to read more? Or maybe learn something new? Non-fiction is the perfect book genre to open your mind and ease yourself back into reading. And with such a broad category of books, there's something for everyone. Historical deep-dives (perfect for someone who gets lost down Wikipedia rabbit holes), self-help books (expert-driven reads when you need advice), and everything in between all fall under this wide umbrella.

Reading books doesn't just give you a new hobby, it's also a way to become more mentally fit . Real Simple reports reading can help you relax, make you more empathetic, and may even decrease your risk of Alzheimer's disease. In a world where we're all tied to screens, there's no doubt it's great to take a break every once in a while and enjoy the tactile feel of turning the pages of a great read. And once you get into non-fiction, who knows? You may even take the next step and jump into a fun genre read like fantasy or sci-fi (we've got great 2024 picks for those too, if you're interested).

2024 is another great year for non-fiction books. We've got science-based explorations of memory, various books on how to inject more positivity into your life, and even meditations on deer (yes, deer ) to help you feel more in touch with the outdoors . And if you're a big pop culture nerd, there's also exciting books on music, movies, and sports that'll teach you the ins and outs of those exciting industries that fans (us included!) can't get enough of.

1) The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with our Wild Neighbors

Those interested in nature writing, or at least how humans connect to the world around them, will enjoy The Age of Deer . Erika Howsare explores the constant presence of deer, interviewing animal control officers, a museum interpreter examining the history of deers, and even a woman who raises orphaned fawns.

Release Date: January 2

2) Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet

If climate change has you worried about the future of the planet, check out Not the End of the World . This 2024 read will not only provide some uplifting news about the state of the world, but also offers guidance on how to create a more sustainable lifestyle and contribute to a better planet.

Release Date: January 9

3) Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age

Rather than looking at aging as an emotional obstacle, what if you could avoid a midlife crisis altogether? Learning to Love Midlife wants to help readers see getting older as an exciting new chapter in life.

Release Date: January 16

4) Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading

Chris Anderson, the head of TED (as in the viral TED Talks), wants to help the world become more optimistic. His advice? Be more generous. In providing various anecdotes, including his personal narrative of TED's increasing popularity, Anderson wants to prove that kindness and charity can lead to a better society.

Release Date: January 23

5) Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections

We at Men's Health are all about helping readers improve their sex lives. So of course we're excited about Come Together , which seeks to dispel myths people have about sex in relationships (sexual satisfaction doesn't have to wane over time ) and examines the common obstacles that stops couples from having great sex lives, along with how to get over them.

Release Date: January 30

6) Fight Right: How Successful Couples Turn Conflict into Connection

While Come Together will help you fix your sex life, Fight Right wants to help you fix how you approach conflict. When tension arises in your relationship, Drs. John and Julie Gottman want to ensure you stay calm and work to find understanding when you and your partner are at odds.

7) Never Not Working: Why the Always-On Culture Is Bad for Business--and How to Fix It

If you've ever been called a "workaholic," this book is for you. Whether you're a manager or just a very stressed employee, Malissa Clark breaks down why constantly working is bad for both individuals and for businesses.

Release Date: February 6

8) The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center

While you may think your partner is the only friend you need, this book is set out to prove you wrong. Rhaina Cohen argues that not only are friendships important, but they should be considered just as important, if not more, than romantic relationships.

Release Date: February 13

9) Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Deep dive into Hollywood history with this look at Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?–starting with the original 1962 play, then the 1966 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and the story's lasting impact today.

10) The Fast: The History, Science, Philosophy, and Promise of Doing Without

Fasting is a fascinating part of our social, religious, and political history. John Oakes looks to examine how the idea of fasting (both in terms of food and in terms of more spiritual ideas of "fasting") have impacted humans over time, and how the idea of doing less overall can improve our lives.

11) Practical Optimism: The Art, Science, and Practice of Exceptional Well-Being

It's easy to fall into pessimism and obsess over the worst. That's why Practical Optimism looks to give readers a way to cope during hardship, while maintaining an overall bright outlook on life. No matter what's getting you down, Practical Optimism wants to show you there's still things worth looking forward to.

Release Date: February 20

12) Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters

Take a deep dive into the latest research on memory with Why We Remember . In addition to teaching you how to recall things better, the book explores the power of memory in our lives, and how we can, through memory, improve our brain's relationship to trauma, healing, and more.

13) Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

Imagine yourself at work, stumbling through a presentation, frustrated you can't get your point across. Charles Duhigg's Supercommunicators wants to ensure nothing ever gets lost in translation for you again with this book on how storytelling skills can improve how you have conversations.

14) Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down

When your mental health takes a dip, Languishing is here for you. Corey Keyes' new book aims to reconstruct how we see self-help and mental wellness, while building up readers' resilience to get through hardships.

15) Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

Avoid burnout with Slow Productivity , a book that looks to teach employees everywhere that the key to doing your best isn't in working to your limit, but slowing down and changing your expectations. If work overwhelms you and you're eager for a change, you might want to check out this upcoming read.

Release Date: March 5

16) 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool

If you're a fan of music history, 3 Shades of Blue dives into the creation of the jazz album Kind of Blue , made by three of the genre's greats–Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans, along with many, many others involved in the project. Get an inside look into how great music is made, and explore the moment jazz reached its popularity peak.

17) The Heart and the Chip: Our Bright Future with Robots

Daniela Rus, a computer scientist, answers all the questions you may have about the future of robotics and how it's intertwined with the future of humanity. This optimistic look at our technological future is great for anyone who loves deep dives into science.

18) Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball

Baseball fans will love this biography of Pete Rose, who became one of the sport's great players and managers before becoming embroiled in a major betting scandal in the 1980s. O'Brien's book details Rose's career and his downfall from interviews with Rose, his associates, and archival records.

Release Date: March 26

19) Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing

Want to improve your work-life balance and learn how to use your time wisely? Google's Executive Productivity Advisor (yes, that's a real title) provides actionable steps and advice for how to become the best version of you both at work and in your personal life

Release Date: April 2

20) Somehow: Thoughts on Love

Somehow is a meditative look at how love impacts our lives. With anecdotes from her own life, Lamott offers a warming dive into how we all share affection, and provides lessons for anyone who needs to appreciate the love in their life more.

Release Date: April 9

21) The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality

If you've ever wondered how social media has changed how you see the rest of the world, The Age of Magical Overthinking is exactly the book for you. Montell explores how the Internet and constantly being online has made us chronic overthinkers and anxious, irrational beings. And, of course, she offers a reprieve from the chaos of the modern age.

22) Everest, Inc.: The Renegades and Rogues Who Built an Industry at the Top of the World

Whether you want to climb Mount Everest or are terrified of heights, you'll find an interesting read in Everest, Inc., which charts the history of the Himalayan guiding industry, the sole reason so many people have been able to achieve the major fear of climbing Everest each year. It's an exploration of the unsung heroes of mountain climbing.

Release Date: April 16

23) The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

The Devil in the White City author Erik Larson is back with another historical retelling, this one detailing one of America's most pivotal moments: starting with Abraham Lincoln's election and going all the way to the start of the Civil War. History buffs and readers looking to dip their toes into a nonfiction story for the first time alike will enjoy Larson's newest book.

Release Date: April 30

24) Feel It All: A Therapist's Guide to Reimagining Your Relationship with Sex

Casey Tanner is a therapist who's ready to hep readers reclaim their sex lives and relationships. In Feel It All, Tanner breaks down mythos about sex and relationships that have plagued us for far too long, and reveals how you can heal past trauma, redefine sex in your life, and find your way to deeper intimacy.

Release Date: May 14

25) Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius

This biography explores the largely unexamined life of Elaine May, the multihyphenate Hollywood star who is known for her reclusive lifestyle and impressive (but limited) resume as a director. Courogen pulls back the curtain on May's life and mystery, seeking to give the director, actor, writer, and comedian her long-delayed due.

Release Date: June 4

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