A non-fiction versus fiction mentality puzzles me. Some
folks won't pick up a novel, while others view non-fiction as boring.
Non-fiction is my first love, which is probably one of the
reasons I adapted so well to the blogosphere. Yet, my efforts to get published
didn't take off until I started using fiction techniques in my devotionals and
other writings.
Recently, I picked up a book on the Firstborn Personality by
Dr. Kevin Leman. You might recognize him as the guy who made birth order a
household expression. It didn't take me long to figure out how this might be
applied to fiction.
Think about it. Every novel has characters. Each one relates
to family members, friends, and other people. If we're writing about a CEO of a
major corporation, he/she is most likely a firstborn or only child. Did you
know that most of our astronauts were firstborn or only children? I didn't.
Fascinating.
Writers: How do you
apply fiction skills to non-fiction writing and vice versa?
Readers: If novelists put these principles into action,
would you be more interested in fiction? Why?
Photo credit: mazwebs