The value of non-fiction, for a fiction writer
At the Oregon Christian Writers Summer Conference, an agent I spoke with commented journalism is a great place for novelists – fiction writers – to start. I agree in many ways.
In journalism, you learn to write concisely, use vivid, moving quotes, hook your reader from the very start, and follow the stylebook to the letter. One problem, however, is the differences in writing style. For instance, journalists use the AP Stylebook while CBA publishers use the Chicago Manual of Style. There are many key differences that after four or five years as a journalist, I find difficult to switch to. Spelling out all numbers, among other things, are habits I’m learning to change.
Knowing how to write a good article goes beyond basic mechanics. Like with a novel, you build characters through dialogue, description and detail. One of the main changes is the use of tools such as deep POV and descriptive dialogue tags. After three solid years of only using “he said” or “she said,” it was strange to realize those weren’t as desirable throughout my 70,000-word manuscript.
My first real “article” was in my introduction to journalism class at college. In high school I had helped start the high school newspaper and done a few other articles, but they were so raw and elementary, I hardly consider them anything worth remembering. In college the mechanics of a newspaper article came to light and I took hold. For my feature article, the final assignment for the course, I wrote about a young girl named Katie at a therapeutic riding center and her connection to her horse, Kurt.
“Astride a golden horse whose black, round eyes reflect his gentle nature and docile temperament, 14-year-old Katie sits tall, clutching the soft, worn out leather of the reins while gently pulling the horse to a stop. Her head, covered with a white helmet dips slightly as she looks down at her steed and unleashes a radiant smile.
“Katie leans forward carefully, able to smell the dust and leather scent emanating from the horse, and patting the thick, rich fur of her faithful companion, a 14-year-old horse named Kurt.
“Katie has been riding for five years. She is autistic.” Published – Northwest Horse Source July 2006
Read the full article about Katie and Kurt.
This story sealed my fate. I was further hooked on journalism, on writing. I was no longer telling stories I pulled from my imagination. This was a real, gripping tale of a young girl overcoming the odds. You can’t fake a story that powerful.
Reading and writing feature articles further enhanced my appreciation of fiction. Despite technical differences, the writing is the same, the emotion is the same, the result is the same.
The Northwest Therapeutic Riding Center: http://www.nwtrc.org/index.php?section=home
A second article I wrote on the NWTRC: http://www.nwtrc.org/pdf/KlipsunMagazineArticleNov2007.pdf
Read MoreMy first interview…
Not job interview, not a radio interview. No, the first time I interviewed someone else. I was thirteen. My family and I journeyed to La Pine, Oregon, to visit my grandparents. I already took up my insatiable habit of writing all the time, so I carried a little notebook with me and worked on my stories, drafting new ideas for novels and reworking the novel I had already completed.
My grandparents took us down the road to a little house and a huge garage. A garage bigger than my horse’s barn twice over. Inside there was a collection of old cars and World War II memorabilia. The owner, a World War II vet named Bob Burnett, sat in a chair in the corner with his feet up. We all ventured over and my grandpa jabs my arm. “Nikki, you ought to ask him about what he did in the war.”
So I did. Mr. Burnett was a B29 pilot who flew into hurricanes to gather scientific data.
He flew into hurricanes.
Frantically, I look around but my notebook is in the car. It was the first—and last time—I was caught without a writing utensil and medium. Mr. Burnett went on to share stories of landing in storms, taking off of a cliff, losing several engines in flight, secret missions for the government and more. He told of the times he took leaves while in Japan and the breadth of experiences there.
I still remember the feeling of awe sitting next to him. I was already a history fan, and he lit a new passion inside of me. This era of new technology, Superfortresses and more, captured my imagination.
The moment we got into the car, I found my notebook and scribbled everything I could remember. I didn’t feel like a journalist per se, but I felt like I had a story to share and I loved that feeling. Years later, in journalism school, I would still get that feeling with each interview and article.
Writing is about sharing a story, whether true or imagined. I plan on sharing Bob Burnett’s story though fiction in the future. He has since passed but I hope that his story will live on.
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