The golden age of blogging is over, but nonfiction itself continues to be popular. Whether you want to help others, turn your writing into yet an additional stream of income, or take your career to the next level, a nonfiction outlet is worth considering.
Nonfiction: Is it necessary?
Some individuals claim that fiction isn’t enough. The competition and commercialization of the art of writing fiction mean that you can’t sell at all if you’re not willing to sell your soul and your authenticity.
That isn’t entirely true, but if you find yourself attracted to highly marginalized subgenres and realize that most readers aren’t on the lookout for epic poetry, you might need a supplement if you’re looking to turn your writing into a job.
Note: You do not need to write full time to enjoy it. Many of the greatest writers in the world wrote only as a hobby or part-time occupation, so there is no shame in keeping or pursuing a day job.
In the end, no—you don’t need to write nonfiction beyond your author bio and your emails. But if you’re interested, there are plenty of reasons why an author blog—or nonfiction course, or nonfiction books—could help.
Benefits of Writing Nonfiction
Reflection: You’re more likely to make progress and advance in your fiction if you take some time to reflect on your progress and your method. What worked for you in your last book? What didn’t work? What came as a complete surprise?
You can use nonfiction writing as a way to pause in your writing and publishing and ask if there’s anything you can do better. It’s one of the easiest and cheapest ways to give yourself a professional upgrade.
Helping others: Everyone who publishes a book has to rely on information passed down by someone else who’s further along. Keeping a written record of your own journey could be a valuable tool for someone else who is looking for advice.
Even if you’re comparatively new to writing, your experience is valid and could be critical to someone else who is still trying to figure it out.
Publicity: There are many things you can do with non-fiction reflections—and sometimes it’s just as simple as humanizing yourself to your readers.
Your fans are curious about your projects. They crave glimpses of what it’s like behind the scenes of the novel they’re looking forward to reading and they want to see how you operate as an author. It’s simply interesting. While some of this will likely bleed through into your newsletters, expanding your thoughts is both fun and rewarding.
Income: Can nonfiction be yet another way to diversify your income? Absolutely. In addition to packaging blog posts or writing nonfiction books you can sell, you can use your experience to coach or teach writing classes to people who are a few steps behind.
There really aren’t any limits to what you can do with this. Worksheets and workbooks also count and can be fun to design.
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