Topic: Fiction, Nonfiction, Plot and Credibility

10-second review: Both fiction and nonfiction have plots.

Title: “Follow Fiction Techniques for Livelier Nonfiction.” Shelby Hearon. The Writer (December 2008), 24-25. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Quote: “In some ways, the two forms [fiction and nonfiction] are very different. There is the plot in fiction, and the writer must invent facts readers will believe. In nonfiction, the writer has all the facts and has to arrange them into a plot for the readers. But in their final effect, the two kinds of writing are not dissimilar. In both, the ultimate question the reader will ask is: Does it ring true?”

Comment: I never finish the articles in The Writer without having learned something new about writing, and without being encouraged to keep writing. RayS.