How to Structure Your Non-Fiction Book
Structuring the Non-Fiction Book with Rebecca Giggs
Join award-winning author Rebecca Giggs in this practical three-part course on structuring the non-fiction book.
One of the biggest challenges of writing narrative non-fiction lies in constructing your project. Even if you know what you want to convey and how you want your writing to be read, organising your material into a compelling, intuitive framework can prove to be a significant stumbling block.
In this new course, Rebecca Giggs, the award-winning author of Fathoms and contributor to prestigious magazines such as The New Yorker and The Atlantic, offers a comprehensive framework for planning your non-fiction manuscript. Through a series of reflective insights, close readings and writing exercises, you will explore how to best tell your stories. From choosing whether chapters are character-led or thematic, to managing plot, conflict resolution and narrative arc in true stories, this course will equip you with the tools, strategies and approaches to give your project an enhanced prospect of publication.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Understanding the core components publishers look for in deciding whether a non-fiction proposal merits a book-length exploration
- How to use personal experiences and anecdotes to drive your narrative
- Techniques for organising your research and fieldwork outcomes
- How to approach generating and grouping early passages of writing for prospective submission to publishers and agents
- Taking inspiration from other successful non-fiction books
- Different approaches to composing a full-book outline: timelines, diagramming and drafting a table of contents
You will also learn:
- To think in terms of scenes and exposition as a means of modulating pacing
- Common structures found in non-fiction books that can be applied to your own projects
- Some more experimental approaches to structure, including ‘genre-smashes’
- How to use writing exercises to give shape and order to your book-length ideas
Member Exclusive: KYD members receive a $50 discount on this course. Offer ends August 10. (Check your email for the code).
Not a member yet? Become a member here, or contact [email protected] for more information.