How to Find Your Non Fiction Writing Style
Set your goals., Try everything., Study up., Be realistic., Be flexible.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Set your goals.
If you're transitioning from fiction writing to non-fiction, take a good look at why you're making that choice.
If your goal is to make money on the side to financially support your creative writing (and potentially end a fast food career), be realistic about what that will take.
Are you motivated enough to work from home (blogging or copywriting)? Will you be pursuing non-fiction writing as a full-time job (such as shadow-writing textbooks)? If you're thinking of pursuing non-fiction as a full-time job, then you will probably need a qualification.
Most business and shadow writing jobs accept a BA in English as a minimum.
If you don't have any tertiary qualification in writing, then there are still ways to explore and gain employment from home, but remember that freelancing in any field is often an unstable source of income, at least for the first few years.
If your main focus isn't to work, but just to potentially find out what you could do, then you still need to consider your goals before you begin. -
Step 2: Try everything.
There are a variety of styles and voices to write in
-- examples of non-fiction writing 'genres' include copywriting (writing the text in advertisements), paid blogging (often part of a larger website, for instance, a health & lifestyle blog on the website of a vitamin company), journalistic writing (news stories), shadow writing or ghostwriting for textbooks, biographies, and other work (you can be like the writers who wrote The Hardy Boys series under the pen name "Franklin W.
Dixon").
Essays and technical documentation are also non-fiction texts, but usually related to a specific field of expertise.
If your aim is to develop your skills or to earn some money, you need to dabble in at least most of these.
Think of it as trying on new clothes
-- put in the time to get to know a style, but if it doesn't seem to fit, let it go.
If you want to write blog posts or news articles, read a few articles in this style to get warmed up, noting what works about them and what draws you in.
Try to emulate the style of what you've read
-- don't worry about it looking weird.
You will have time to refine your style.
The important thing is to never set your standards too high with what you think you want to do; you never know unless you try. , You don't need to go back to school to make it as a non-fiction writer.
Freelance jobs often pay by the word and hire based on whether you can meet deadlines, not how many years you've studied.
There are some amazing resources around the web that will help you figure out the correct formatting for most jobs, and whatever you're planning to do, make sure you keep reading lots of material written in that style.
Pay attention to particular uses of language, such as the lack of hyperbole and adjectives in 'hard news' stories, contrasted with the personal address of blogs, and many advertisements.
Articles providing factual information on a topic (on a website like Wikipedia or Web MD) don't use phrases like "it seems as though" or "we might assume"
whereas a biography or an account of an interview might use a more personal tone to connect with the reader. , Creative writers write for their readers.
As a non-fiction writer, this stays true
-- but you're also writing for your bosses.
If you're hoping to be able to quit your job and work from home, then do your research on how you're going to make ends meet.
Writing online means that you can source work from all over the world (and probably will) but it also means employers have access to more writers, so the pay goes down.
One example is a work-from-home copywriting job for a small real estate firm.
The company hiring you (often a third party) will send you the details of a house that is going up for lease, the number of bedrooms, parking spaces, the location, and maybe a picture.
Your job is to think of some nice stuff to say about that house
-- in fifty words or less.
For the fifty words you produce, you get paid maybe one dollar (if not less).
So to make $15 an hour, you have to write one 50-word blurb every four minutes.
But the real estate business only needs a hundred blurbs written for the whole week, so after six hours, you've written yourself out of work. , You may never have liked writing essays in high school, and even have left it out when you were trying new styles of writing.
Don't give up so quickly! Essays teach the foundational aspects of structure and argument, which are very important in other styles, such as copywriting and even blogging! Everything you write, whether it's 50 words or fifty thousand, will have a beginning, a middle and an end.
If you find yourself saying "I won't do that" before you've even begun, you're closing yourself off to opportunities to excel.
When something comes up, give it your best shot before you dismiss it
-- you might learn something new on the way.
This is especially important if you're looking for your 'voice' as a non-fiction writer, or hoping to make money from your writing.
If you keep at something for long enough, it becomes natural.
When you find something you really enjoy, you'll have had a wide range of experiences that show you what you really care about... and you'll know you've found your style. -
Step 3: Study up.
-
Step 4: Be realistic.
-
Step 5: Be flexible.
Detailed Guide
If you're transitioning from fiction writing to non-fiction, take a good look at why you're making that choice.
If your goal is to make money on the side to financially support your creative writing (and potentially end a fast food career), be realistic about what that will take.
Are you motivated enough to work from home (blogging or copywriting)? Will you be pursuing non-fiction writing as a full-time job (such as shadow-writing textbooks)? If you're thinking of pursuing non-fiction as a full-time job, then you will probably need a qualification.
Most business and shadow writing jobs accept a BA in English as a minimum.
If you don't have any tertiary qualification in writing, then there are still ways to explore and gain employment from home, but remember that freelancing in any field is often an unstable source of income, at least for the first few years.
If your main focus isn't to work, but just to potentially find out what you could do, then you still need to consider your goals before you begin.
There are a variety of styles and voices to write in
-- examples of non-fiction writing 'genres' include copywriting (writing the text in advertisements), paid blogging (often part of a larger website, for instance, a health & lifestyle blog on the website of a vitamin company), journalistic writing (news stories), shadow writing or ghostwriting for textbooks, biographies, and other work (you can be like the writers who wrote The Hardy Boys series under the pen name "Franklin W.
Dixon").
Essays and technical documentation are also non-fiction texts, but usually related to a specific field of expertise.
If your aim is to develop your skills or to earn some money, you need to dabble in at least most of these.
Think of it as trying on new clothes
-- put in the time to get to know a style, but if it doesn't seem to fit, let it go.
If you want to write blog posts or news articles, read a few articles in this style to get warmed up, noting what works about them and what draws you in.
Try to emulate the style of what you've read
-- don't worry about it looking weird.
You will have time to refine your style.
The important thing is to never set your standards too high with what you think you want to do; you never know unless you try. , You don't need to go back to school to make it as a non-fiction writer.
Freelance jobs often pay by the word and hire based on whether you can meet deadlines, not how many years you've studied.
There are some amazing resources around the web that will help you figure out the correct formatting for most jobs, and whatever you're planning to do, make sure you keep reading lots of material written in that style.
Pay attention to particular uses of language, such as the lack of hyperbole and adjectives in 'hard news' stories, contrasted with the personal address of blogs, and many advertisements.
Articles providing factual information on a topic (on a website like Wikipedia or Web MD) don't use phrases like "it seems as though" or "we might assume"
whereas a biography or an account of an interview might use a more personal tone to connect with the reader. , Creative writers write for their readers.
As a non-fiction writer, this stays true
-- but you're also writing for your bosses.
If you're hoping to be able to quit your job and work from home, then do your research on how you're going to make ends meet.
Writing online means that you can source work from all over the world (and probably will) but it also means employers have access to more writers, so the pay goes down.
One example is a work-from-home copywriting job for a small real estate firm.
The company hiring you (often a third party) will send you the details of a house that is going up for lease, the number of bedrooms, parking spaces, the location, and maybe a picture.
Your job is to think of some nice stuff to say about that house
-- in fifty words or less.
For the fifty words you produce, you get paid maybe one dollar (if not less).
So to make $15 an hour, you have to write one 50-word blurb every four minutes.
But the real estate business only needs a hundred blurbs written for the whole week, so after six hours, you've written yourself out of work. , You may never have liked writing essays in high school, and even have left it out when you were trying new styles of writing.
Don't give up so quickly! Essays teach the foundational aspects of structure and argument, which are very important in other styles, such as copywriting and even blogging! Everything you write, whether it's 50 words or fifty thousand, will have a beginning, a middle and an end.
If you find yourself saying "I won't do that" before you've even begun, you're closing yourself off to opportunities to excel.
When something comes up, give it your best shot before you dismiss it
-- you might learn something new on the way.
This is especially important if you're looking for your 'voice' as a non-fiction writer, or hoping to make money from your writing.
If you keep at something for long enough, it becomes natural.
When you find something you really enjoy, you'll have had a wide range of experiences that show you what you really care about... and you'll know you've found your style.
About the Author
Sophia Griffin
Brings years of experience writing about DIY projects and related subjects.
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