What Is Literary Nonfiction?

There are several different types of forms of writings. All the forms have their purpose and usefulness for the readers. One such type of writing is literary nonfiction. The literary nonfiction type of writing consists of proses that use literary techniques to shed light on ways of life. This is the genre of writing that employs literary techniques to produce accurate content. This means that all the elements of the literature are used but the end result is factually accurate. It does not alter the facts or wheels the story in a direction suitable to the author. Instead, this type of writing is informative and entertaining. It fulfills both of these purposes. The literary nonfiction is considered the text of higher quality. Only the best of writers can produce literary nonfiction in a compelling way.

Literary nonfiction is also known as creative nonfiction. This genre is extremely broad. There are several concepts and elements that can be included in this type of writing. Travel, autobiographies, nature writing, science, memoirs, and interviews can be included in the literary nonfiction. Writing the creative nonfiction requires a lot of focus and attention to the details. Here are a few tips that you can follow to write a good creative nonfiction:

Be Objective

You need to be objective to write creative nonfiction. However, if you are writing your own personal story, there is no need to be highly objective. Keep a good balance because nobody likes to read a biased autobiography.

Get Your Facts Straight

Creative nonfiction is a genre that is based on facts. You cannot alter the facts of the story. You must get your facts straight and accurate.

How to Spot the Author's Argument In Nonfiction

In every article, the author mentions his/her argument. The argument is based on the main topic and theme of the article. Argument is the presentation of logical facts that leads toward a theory of understanding of the topic. It is the perspective of the author on a certain issue or aspect. You must determine the argument of the author in the article so that you can clearly comprehend what the author is trying to say. Here is a step by step procedure to spot the author's argument in a nonfiction:

Read The Article

The first step is to read the article thoroughly. Before moving on to the argument, you must understand the topic of the article. It plays a huge role in determining the argument.

Identify the Author's Claim

The second step is to identify the claim of the author. The claim of the author is the main point of the entire article. It contains the belief and perspective of the author. The claim is known to assert the truth. The author uses relevant evidence to further verify the claim. In order to spot and understand the claim, it is important to have a basic understanding of the topic.

Identify the Purpose

The next step is to identify the purpose of the author. The purpose refers to the reason why the author wrote the article. There can be many reasons why the author wrote the article. It is your job to identify that with the help of evidence and the claim.

Determine the Reasoning

After you are done with the steps above, it is time to identify the reasoning that the author has mentioned. Reasoning is the credible evidence that the author provides to support the claim and argument. Beware of fallacious reasoning. It is faulty and not credible.

How to Enjoy Nonfiction More?

Nonfiction includes motivational books, historical books or books based on true events. Though nonfiction is interesting, yet it is difficult for readers to build up their interest in such type of content. As kids grew up reading fiction books with images and entertaining content, it is difficult for one to begin reading nonfiction and to enjoy it.

Given below are some techniques that will help one to read and enjoy nonfiction more:

Staying Relaxed

No matter what the reading content is, for better understanding and enjoyment of book, the reader should be relaxed. Environment for reading should be comfortable, with appropriate lighting, and moderate temperature.

Understanding the Main Idea

To enjoy nonfiction, it is always advised to read and understand the foreword of the book. Take out the most important points and note them down. This will help one to stay focus on the main idea as well as to enjoy nonfiction.

Highlighting Important Points

While reading, always keep different color highlighters with you. Highlight important points, unique words, and sentences. Use different colors on the same page to make your page look attractive; this will help you to enjoy nonfiction more.

Understanding Hard Words

In case you are not able to understand some words, do not move on without fully understanding it. Use a dictionary, internet or whatever resource available to you to understand the meaning. This will also help you to enjoy nonfiction.

Picking Nonfiction of Interest

Either fiction or nonfiction, always choose the content that is according to your interest, so that you can enjoy your reading material fully. If the content is not according to your interest, it will be a little tricky to get your attention to it.

Writing an Abstract

After reading the chapter of your nonfiction book, write the abstract of that chapter shortly and neatly. This will help you to understand as well as to enjoy the nonfiction more.