Finding the Right Non-Fiction for You

One of the things I’ve heard a lot about non-fiction books is that some people just can’t get into them. Maybe a lot of people don’t stray far from fiction as they tend to think moving to non-fiction will be boring or tedious or just not as interesting.

            I am of the firm opinion that non-fiction books can be just as entertaining and interesting as a fiction book can be, although I will say the trick of jumping the divide between these two genres can be difficult at times. Here are my thoughts on how to find a non-fiction book that won’t leave you snoozing or giving up half-way through.

1.     Selection

In terms of finding a non-fiction book for you, I think selection is one of the most important aspects. Goodness knows there are probably millions of non-fiction books out there on every subject known to man available to read, but if you don’t really care about a topic, then you’re probably going to have a difficult time reading about it. Not to say you couldn’t pick something up out of curiosity and end up loving it or finding a new interest- that’d be fantastic- but if you’re just starting to enter the non-fiction world, try starting with something you really like.

For example, right now, I’m reading Loren Grush’s book The Six, which details the historic introduction of the first six women accepted into the astronaut corps. It’s full of history, adventure, and scientific progress, but it also details the grueling, intense, and often sexist experiences these women went through in order to show women could go and work in space too. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this book is probably going to be one of my favorite non-fic reads so far. But, for me, this makes sense- the vast majority of what I read in terms of non-fiction is usually about the space program/exploration, and I have a particular interest in regard to the history of women’s involvement with this field (beyond the fact that I am also a woman) as it historically was often a contentious space in regard to cultural gender norms of various times and systemic exclusion, yet so much social and scientific progress came out of it as dozens and dozens of women fought for every inch of their right to be there.

As you can tell from my ideological ramble, this is a topic I care about. A lot. But I can see where space exploration is not everyone’s cup of tea. Novels about space are often filled with a lot of technical jargon and scientific explanation, which might make someone’s brain melt if they’re not into that kind of thing. I like it because I’ve been raised on science fiction (whose impact is often discussed in space history) and I love digging into history, getting ideas in case my writer brain wants to churn out a space story someday.

One other area I tend to leap over into non-fiction is entertainment, which I suspect might be an accessible place for most people to start. I tend to read a lot of those books about production, usually on a specific movie or Broadway play, that detail the major aspects about how it all was made. I’m a theatre kid, so I really like delving into how specific things are performed or filmed, how their stories came about. I read these because I want to see how things work behind the scenes.

In a similar vein, this also leads you to biography/opinion-type books by famous people. I think I go here less than the other examples, unless it’s someone or something I’m really curious about. For example, last year I read Tom Felton’s Beyond the Wand where he talks about his life and growing up on the set of the Harry Potter movies, as well as Kristin Chenoweth’s I’m No Philosopher, but I Got Thoughts which was a humorous take on events in her life (some not so humorous) and lessons she’d learned. These two specifically are people I’m interested in as a fan of their work, but also they’re both directly talking about their own lives in regard to their entertainment careers. See? Still hitting that topic of interest.

I hadn’t really realized it until writing it out here, but actually a lot of the biographies I read also fall in line with chosen topic of interest. Two biographies I’ve read previously or recently are Scott Kelly’s Endurance, outlining his time setting one of the longest duration records for time spent in space, and Colonel Eileen M. Collins (with Jonathan H. Ward) Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars which follows Collins’ life and how she became “the first American woman to command a space mission” (literally the book’s subtitle). I’ve also read Buzz Aldrin’s Mission to Mars laying out his ideas for how the next phase of space exploration should go. I don’t actually know if I’d realized how much space stuff I read, which is kind of funny. Like I said, I have an interest in it beyond general knowledge as a writer very interested in the topic, but still, you get the point.

Think about a topic or person you’re really interested in and start looking. Hopefully that will help lead you to a topic you love.

2.     Author and Styling

That being said, even if you find a book on a topic you’re really interested in, you still might not fall in love with non-fiction. This hasn’t happened a lot, but even if I’ve found a book on a topic I’m really interested in, a lot of times how that book is written can still make or break its reader’s experience, which might be something to take into consideration if you’re a writer planning a non-fic book as well.

I mentioned I was currently reading Loren Grush’s The Six earlier and one thing I really like is that it’s written in a way that’s very engaging and in the moment, to the point where it feels a little like the way a fiction book or news story might be written. Juggling the six women is a bit of a tall task and it did take me a little bit to keep track of which one was which, but I think that was me getting used to following them and not anything Grush did. Some books, particularly ones like a space book where you’re dealing with family, astronauts, and NASA staff, just have a lot of people to keep up with as they all played their respective roles in history.

Stylistic choices can be very important to the readability of a book. How the author presents the story, how much they jump around, how information is organized or explained all contribute. For example, as I said before, books dealing with space history can be very jargon-y or rely on historic knowledge of knowing who some people are, so in that kind of scenario, I think you have to determine what and when to explain. What’s common knowledge? What isn’t?

An author’s voice and style can actually be the most intriguing thing about a book in some scenarios. One of the most interesting and fun reads I’ve found in my non-fic journey is Mary Roach’s Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. (Side note: Amie Kaufman also listed this as one of her latest reads in her monthly newsletter not too long ago and I might have freaked out a little bit in a “I’VE READ THAT TOO!” moment. We’ve probably read other books in common, but it was an exciting surprise.) Essentially, Roach spins a humorous, scientific quest asking a ton of quirky- yet important questions- about the history and future of figuring out life in space on topics ranging from animals in space, hygiene, intercourse, and food to give a few interesting examples as I look back over the table of contents.

I haven’t read any of Roach’s other books, but I am very curious as I enjoyed this one (which I picked up in a used bookstore on a whim due to its subject matter and fun cover: an astronaut drifting through space with a suitcase). Judging from her catalogue, all scientific books with funny names, I get the impression that this humorous take on exploring odd or niche aspects of science is Roach’s forte, which might be a fun way to bridge into some new topics to uncover.

Lastly on this topic, one thing that can affect a non-fic book- or any book for that matter- beyond the author and their chosen way of telling the story, is the style of formatting. As we were discussing the topic for this week, I commented that I believed some of the trouble I’d had with reading at least one non-fiction book stemmed from it having a very small font size, which just made it difficult to read for me. Some people might not have trouble with this, but font size and paragraph spacing that are too small can be a detriment to your reader as they can be difficult to see, make it hard to keep your place among the lines, and not give enough white space for your eyes to rest on the page.

Readers might consider how a book is laid out when they’re determining whether to read this, so I think this is something to consider. That being said, a lot of format can be industry standard so this might be something hard to control if you’re not self-publishing. Kristin made the excellent point though that if you were having difficulty with a problem like font size, reading books electronically usually has a way to alter the size so it’s easier to read.

3.     Writers Reading Non-Fics

We’ve talked a lot about general non-fiction reading, but let’s focus in for a second for those of us who may be authors looking for non-fics. As I said earlier, a lot of what I read is space-oriented as that’s a topic I’m interested in, but I’m also reading for the purpose of gaining knowledge about a specific topic I’d like to write about in the future.

Seeking out non-fiction books to round out your knowledge on certain topics is a great way to help fill out your story, even if that’s intended to be fiction. Space is an obvious example because it’s so technical and works by a lot of different rules- particularly regarding zero gravity environments, how rockets work, hydroponics, etc. These are things you probably need to have at least a basic knowledge about even if your story isn’t going to get into them too much, as your characters will probably need to know at least some about these things.

A little less on the order of me just reading for fun, over the last few years, I’ve been working on writing a non-fiction project that’s involved me needing to read a lot of Kentucky history. When you’re reading for specific research versus general, you need to be a bit more particular on what things might be good to read in terms of relevancy, as you might encounter an overwhelming number of books that might have you stalled and trying to read forever. That being said, several times I’ve come across names or events that help fill out a larger picture even if they’re not directly relevant to the project at large, which is always kind of a cool find. It can be a bit tedious to have to read something for research, but you’ll probably be better in the long run. Weigh your opinions on relevancy, timeframe, and if it seems like a topic that will ultimately aid your project for the better.

One thing too that Kristin and I have recently been delving into is non-fiction for research purposes in regard to writing. Even though you may not think about it when writing fiction, there are a lot of things you might not know about that will come into play.

One of the largest examples now is cultural accuracy if you’re portraying characters with backgrounds different from yours, as it’s probably best to ensure you know about things relevant to the kind of character you want to write and aren’t relying (purposefully, inadvertently, or reader interpretation-wise) on stereotypes of what you think you know. The writing community seems to have become more focused on a need for accuracy in character portrayal and more resources are popping up for writers specifically in this regard. Always be aware too of where your sources are coming from so you don’t get caught up in inaccurate information.

I’ve also found resources on genre-specific things that I’ve picked up mostly because I’ve just kind of happened upon them and thought they’d be relevant. One of the most interesting finds I’ve had is a giant book called The Storyteller’s Thesaurus by James M. Ward and Anne K. Brown, which I found in a used bookstore. I don’t know if there’s others, but the one I found is specifically focused on “Fantasy, History, and Horror” and it’s literally a thesaurus of tropes, common terminology, fantasy monsters, natural elements- practically anything you can think of. It’s awesome.

Also too, when you’re specifically researching information, don’t immediately go “Oh my gosh, I’m going to have to read a bunch of huge non-fiction books to research.” Sometimes simpler is one of the best places to start. I kid you not, when I’m trying to write a fantasy story, one of the books I keep within arm’s reach is the Magic Tree House Research Guide #2 Knights and Castles by Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne. These were like the non-fic informational books that were kind of a bonus to the fiction Magic Tree House books they wrote. I’ve probably had this book since elementary school but one day I was looking for some info for a fantasy story and happened to notice it on my bookshelf. It gives a simple understanding of daily life in a castle, and is one of the few books I’ve found that shows a castle with labeled parts so you can understand correct terminology, which is necessary for description if you’re trying to, say, describe a castle and not sound dumb.

Just saying, a basic starting place might make your writing life a lot easier. I usually start with that one if I need a quick refresher on things, but that also helps you find other resource works to step up to that might be a bit more involved. Another used bookstore find was The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in the Middle Ages by Sherrilyn Kenyon, which is another more in-depth resource. Still, I think having a simpler starting place gave me some basic knowledge and helped me pinpoint that what I was looking for was information specifically about medieval daily life.

As you can see, non-fiction can be an interesting ground for readers and writers alike, so I hope me jabbering about what I read and look for might help your journey into this genre too. Got any favorite non-fic reads or writer recommendations? Let us know!

Thanks for reading! Write on.

-Kamryn