Bloggers' Alliance of Nonfiction Devotees

BAND December Discussion: Truth in Nonfiction

This month Erin of Erin Reads asks about truth in nonfiction:

I like learning new things, so what’s the problem with nonfiction? I believe the answer lies, at least partially, in the question of truth. When faced with a “true” book, I struggle to decide how much to believe and how to figure out whether a particular work of nonfiction can be trusted — basically, how to know how true that book is. Which brings me to the question I’d like to ask this month:

How you determine truth in nonfiction? Is the “true-ness” of a book important to you? If you’re a nonfiction veteran, do you have any pointers to offer nonfiction newbies?

November Discussion: Reading for a Cause

This month we have a special guest host, Amanda of Opinions of a Wolf, who asks about reading with a specific cause in mind. She writes,

I firmly believe in knowledge being power. This is how my dad raised me, and I am forever grateful for that. The more knowledge you have the more strongly you can support your cause. This idea was further developed in me when I went to Brandeis University for undergrad. Brandeis is built around the concept of social justice, and in all of our classes we learned that you can change the world one mind at a time.

Even though I’m out of Brandeis now, I’ve done my best to apply this concept to my reading. I seek to constantly attain greater knowledge in areas that matter to me. Pick your cause and read all about it, essentially.

Personally, I can’t wait to write about this one! - Kim

Memoir’s truthy obligations: a handy how-to guide

Nieman Storyboard does it again with this fantastic piece by Ben Yagoda (author of Memoir: A History) and Dan DeLorenzo. They suggest the issue of “truthiness” (Stephen Colbert’s word, not theirs) comes down to a nuanced answer:

Inaccuracy is a problem in a memoir based on the extent to which it gets details as well as larger truths demonstrably wrong, depicts identifiable people in a negative light, fails to recognize the limits of memory, is poorly written, is self-serving, or otherwise wears its agenda on its sleeve. The more of these things it does and the more egregiously it does them, the bigger the problem is.

They also come up with a points system (“half-facetious, but also half-serious”) for rating memoirs, which is worth a look at. — Kim

One More Thought from Hannah Nordhaus

TM: In his introduction to The Best American Essays of 2007 David Foster Wallace wrote, “Writing-wise, fiction is scarier but non-fiction is harder—because non-fiction’s based in reality, and today’s felt reality is overwhelmingly, circuit-blowingly huge and complex.” How does his description of the challenge of writing non-fiction strike you?

HN: To write strong, journalistic non-fiction, you have to do a lot of research. You have to make a lot of phone calls, do a lot of reading, visit as many people and locations as you can, and then try to somehow combine all that undigested information into something that a reader can stomach. But honestly, while reporting is hard and requires a lot of effort and elbow grease and legwork and chutzpah, I think the most challenging thing about writing non-fiction is turning that information into a story. Because if the narrative isn’t unfolding the way you want it, you can’t just change the details to make it better, the way you would when writing fiction. You have to represent the truth.

It’s very hard to be both a storyteller and a chronicler of reality. So to tell a true story that readers want to follow to the end, you’ve got to be very conscious of your craft—of your characters, chronology, pacing, setting, foreshadowing, backstory, detail—all those same elements that are so important in fiction writing. And then you’ve got to make double-sure you’re not making anything up.

For real, go read this piece. It’s awesome. (Emphasis mine)

What I find most absorbing to write about are the little hidden corners of the human experience, the people who do weird things or scary things or difficult things by choice, and who persist in doing those things even when it’s clear they’d be much better off choosing another path through life.

Hannah Nordhaus, in an interview with The Millions. The whole piece is excellent — check it out!

Nonfiction has a lot of different types and qualities, and our logo tries to reflect that. Ash (English Major’s Junk Food) drew up this awesome logo, and explains,

The woman on the far left is a superhero to represent biography, the second woman is essay, third journalism, fourth is travel writing, and fifth is historical.

Summer's Biggest, Juiciest Nonfiction Adventures

There is no literary genre that says “big, juicy hit” like nonfiction adventure; these are titles so packed with action and drama that they feel like movies in waiting (and in fact, most of them are). These are the stories that, when they work, have the chance to become smashes (think The Lost City of Z, Unbroken, or the current bestsellers Lost in Shangri-La and The Psychopath Test), crowding e-readers and beach bags everywhere.