A Writer's Guide to Nonfiction: A Clear, Practical Reference for All Writers

by Elizabeth Lyon

Overview

A WRITER’S COMPASSDirection for your writing career

Don’t get lost on the publishing path. Just forge ahead with the Writer’s Compass. Drawing on decades of professional experience as an author, editor, writing instructor, mentor, and marketing consultant, Elizabeth Lyon helps you navigate the art and craft of writing—with clear, easy-to-follow directions:

 

NORTH

Getting Your Bearings

Understand your purpose and your audience; learn to refine your ideas, select effective titles, and find the best method of organization for any piece

 

SOUTH

Troubleshooting

Use checklists and guidelines to spot weaknesses and problems in leads, organization, conclusions, and style—and find out how to correct them

 

EAST

Learning to Market

Map a successful cover letter, query letter, or proposal, and discover a four-step process to facilitate publication and sales

 

WEST

Refining Your Vision

Brainstorm to gain perspective on your writing—and how it fits with your values, goals, and dreams

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399528675
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/04/2003
Series:	Writers Guide Series
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.65(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Elizabeth Lyon, a regular speaker at writing conferences and retreats nationwide, has been a contributor to Writer’s Digest and is a mentor, editor, and teacher for many writers. The author of Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write and The Sell Your Novel Toolkit, she lives in Eugene, Oregon.

Table of Contents

A Writer's Guide to NonfictionAcknowledgments
Introduction
North: Getting Your Bearings
1. What Do I Want to Say?
2. Who Are My Readers?
3. What Form Can My Writing Take?
4. How Can I Refine My Idea?
5. How Do I Begin?
6. How Do I Develop the Middle?
7. How Can I End Well?
8. Writing About People
9. Writing About Ideas
10. Writing About Things
11. Writing About Places

South: Troubleshooting and Problem Solving
12. Troubleshooting and Problem Solving

East: Your Rising Star
13. Learning How to Market

West: Refining Your Vision
14. Exploring New Horizons

Index
ABout the Author

Editorial Reviews

"You know something others don't know and need," insists Lyon (Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write), and in her confident, optimistic writing primer, the first in the Writer's Compass series, she shows would-be authors how to find their area of expertise and turn it into an article, essay or even a book. Walking her readers through the writing process, from "What to I want to Say?" to "Writing About Ideas" and from "Troubleshooting and Problem Solving" to "Learning How to Market," Lyon crafts a detailed and practical course for the nonfiction novice. Those with a partially formed idea can turn to her section on different types of nonfiction pieces and the subjects to which they're suited, or her chapter on slants to determine the tone of a future piece. (A proponent of the look-before-you-leap school of creative endeavor, Lyon advocates a lot of planning before beginning a writing project.) Writers with a slightly clearer idea can ponder different leads, such as the one-line hook or the direct address, and methods of organization such as comparison and contrast. Almost all the chapters include multiple "maps," which might list "outstanding" memoirs and "choices for ending well," or guide readers through researching travel pieces and writing a query letter. Her troubleshooting section offers checklists for success, and, like all the other chapters, includes a sidebar on recommended reading. This detailed and practical guide may not guarantee writing hopefuls a book deal, but it distinguishes itself from other writing how-tos by its concrete and economical advice. (Mar.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Lyon (Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write) here has an ambitious agenda, aiming to cover what nonfiction is and how to write it, the various types of nonfiction (from essays and memoirs to travel writing and family histories), audience analysis, motivation, and finding a rhetorical organizational strategy. There are also sections on how to market yourself and get your writing published. Unfortunately, the ambitiousness of the task, coupled with the vastness of the subject, makes for a sometimes superficial treatment. As a result, this little book might best be titled "Nonfiction for Dummies" because of its very elementary, sometimes even simplistic approach. Though readers interested in the practicalities of publishing and marketing their work will find the section "Learning How To Market" useful, those looking for guidance on the craft of writing may be disappointed.-Herbert E. Shapiro, Empire State Coll. of SUNY at Rochester Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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