While non-fiction may conjure images of the dusty tomes in your local library, it’s actually an increasingly popular type of online content. Every how-to article, every review, every business blog is an example of non-fiction writing, aimed at inspiring the reader. And as these posts are normally aimed in encouraging the reader to do something, it’s important to be able to write well and make sure you get your message across to the reader. The following nine tips are easy to follow, simple to implement, and can help make you a better nonfiction writer.
1. Be Part of the Bigger Picture
When you start writing non-fiction, you quickly realize that there are many differences to creative writing or fiction, and there are also certain rules and structures you’re expected to follow. To help get the hang of this particular writing style, it can be a massive help to get the support and advice offered by other writers in the forums of Paper Fellows.
2. Half Your Sentences
When you’re writing, you can produce perfectly grammatically correct long sentences. However, these sentences are often complex and contain several different ideas or points, which can confuse your reader. Instead, when you realize a sentence contains a lot of commas and is a few lines long, chop it up into a few shorter sentences.
3. Get Professional Help
This is a particularly useful point when you’re first starting out as a nonfiction writer. You may fee lie your content is a little dry, or perhaps too complex or convoluted. You can solve all these problems by engaging the services of a professional editor or proofreader from Academized or Assignment Help.
4. Eliminate Unnecessary Words
Empty filler words have no place in quality non-fiction content, and trying to pad out your text with unnecessary words or structures will only serve to weaken your writing. You may be using unnecessary words without even realizing if you tend to use expletives as you write – it’s worth checking this and making changes where you can.
5. Use Online Editing Tools
Online editing tools such as EasyWordCount can help you monitor your text and make sure you are hitting the criteria you set yourself, for example your posts may be most effective when they’re over 1000 words. This can also serve as a spelling and grammar checker, which is ideal for when you’re writing on the fly, for example during your commute.
6. Get Rid Of Adverbs
Adverbs may help you feel like you’re being descriptive, but in reality there is normally much better vocabulary to accurately present your situation. Use one good word to express yourself, rather than three mediocre words for really strong content.
7. Don’t Be Stuffy
Jim Mackenzie, an editor from Resumention is adamant that jargon doesn’t improve your writing at all. Unless you know your audience will understand, use simpler vocabulary. You content should be accessible, and not require anyone to hunt out a dictionary – most of all it shouldn’t make your reader feel stupid, and leave the post.
8. Be Authoritative
When you’re writing nonfiction, you often need to present facts, and the best way to ensure your facts are believable is by quoting reliable sources. While this used to be a headache, referencing is now a piece of cake with Cite It In.
9. Avoid the Passive
The passive voice may seem unavoidable at times, but there’s almost always a way to switch to the active voice and keep your piece engaging. Using the passive entails unnecessary words and verbs rather than getting to the point, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for it.
Writing engaging nonfiction is not any easy task at all, however the above tips can help make the process as simple as possible, and ensure that the writing you produced is consistently high quality.
Author Bio:
Mary Walton is a professional editor and online tutor at Big Assignments, currently living in Santa Monica. Also, Mary blogs on Simple Grad, her recent post is ExpertWritingHelp.com Review.
