Writing a Captivating True Story
by Jan Kern
What draws you into a nonfiction book or article and keeps you captivated? Many readers find themselves drawn in through story.
Why Story?
A few years ago, Diane Turbide, an editor at Penguin Publishing, said:
People nowadays are assailed on all fronts. They’re busy, they’re overwhelmed by the pace of life, by information. They can’t make out the shape, or the path, or the arc of their own life. Everything is a blur. . . . People are looking for some kind of narrative thread, some kind of plot that makes sense that doesn’t feel so formless. (Penguin Publishing, December 2011)
In our busy culture, readers are looking for connection and grounding through a narrative thread that helps them build a framework to discover meaning for their lives. A well-told true story is one way to effectively create space for that discovery and connection.
The Craft of Storytelling
Lynn Vincent, a master in the craft of narrative nonfiction, naturally creates this space for discovery and connection for her readers. In Same Kind of Different as Me, she does this in part by capturing the nuances of the voice and personality of the two main characters, Denver and Ron. As readers, we get to know these men at first through their independent stories, and then as their paths cross and a connection is formed. We gain not only an expanding view of their lives but also of our own. That’s masterful storytelling.
When I mentor writers, I often use this book as one example of strong narrative writing. I believe great fiction can be researched so well that you believe it must be true, and nonfiction can tell a true story with such excellent use of fiction techniques you have to take a second look to confirm that you’re not reading a novel.
Of course, the scaffolding of the nonfiction story must be research, facts, and reality. That’s a given. But couch this with creative, well-told narrative, and you amp up reader connection several notches. It’s more likely your readers will remember your key message when they put down your article or close the cover of your book.
What’s Next, Storyteller?
Which story will you tell? Here are ten tips as you begin to write your story:
- Look for life-changing moments: a triumph or a failure, a poignant discovery or monumental decision, or the intersections of conflict.
- Tell the human story: the real, the authentic, and the fallible.
- Watch for unique or inspiring angles that will connect well with your reader.
- Have in mind a key focus question that your story will explore.
- Decide how much of the story is emotionally appropriate for the purpose of your project and especially in caring for your reader.
- Consider which POV (point of view) would present the strongest story.
- If the story is lengthy, consider layering in dialogue and setting, and develop it through a story arc.
- Watch chronology. Make sure your reader can follow the unfolding of events.
- Plan the conclusion of your story with a strong takeaway for your reader.
So go ahead, begin. And then bring your story—your own or someone else’s—to the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference and share it.
As an author, speaker, and life coach, Jan Kern is passionate about story—both how we live it with hope and intentionality and how we write it with craft and finesse. Her nonfiction series for teens/young adults garnered ECPA Gold Medallion and Retailers Choice finalist awards. Currently she is enjoying new ministry and writing opportunities for women. When Jan isn’t writing or coaching, she serves alongside her husband, Tom, at a residential ministry for at-risk teens. Jan will be mentoring the nonfiction clinic at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference.
