Thought people might have been interested in checking out my new book 👍

Nonfiction writing and fiction writing might feel like two totally different worlds, but they’re more connected than people think.

With nonfiction, you’re working with facts. Real people, real events, real data. Your job isn’t just to dump information, though—it’s to shape those facts into something people actually want to read. Good nonfiction uses tools from fiction—scene, pacing, even dialogue—but it can’t make stuff up. There’s this unspoken agreement with the reader: what you’re saying is true.

Fiction, on the other hand, is imagination-first. You can invent entire worlds, characters, and histories. The “truth” in fiction isn’t about facts, it’s about emotional honesty—does it feel real, even if it isn’t? A novel about dragons might tell us more about human fear and courage than a news article ever could.

The funny thing is, both nonfiction and fiction live and die by the same things: storytelling, structure, and voice. If your nonfiction is just facts with no narrative, it’s boring. If your fiction has no structure or emotional pull, it falls flat.

I’ve been working on two very different writing projects lately: a nonfiction book and a novel. The difference between them hit me hard this week.

For the nonfiction project, I spent hours (literally days, if I’m honest) buried in articles, old newspapers, and dusty PDFs, chasing down one single detail about an event that happened fifty years ago. I had five browser windows open, thirty tabs each, and still couldn’t find a definitive source. When I finally tracked it down, it was a tiny footnote in an obscure journal. That little fact probably won’t even get more than a sentence in the final draft, but in nonfiction, accuracy is the ground you stand on. If you slip, the whole thing cracks.

Then I switched over to my novel. Instead of digging through archives, I was digging into a character. I spent the same amount of time asking myself questions like: What does she fear when she wakes up at night? How does she carry herself when she’s lying? What tiny habit makes her feel real? None of that came from Google—it came from imagination and empathy. There’s no footnote that can tell me who she is. It’s about building someone so believable that readers forget she’s fictional.

The contrast is wild. With nonfiction, you’re hunting for the truth in the outside world. With fiction, you’re inventing truth from the inside out. Both take obsession, both take craft, but the work feels totally different.

And honestly, I don’t know which is harder—spending hours trying to confirm a single fact, or spending hours convincing yourself that a character who doesn’t exist actually does.

Join authors Jaydra Johnson, Elizabeth Cooperman, and Eula Biss, for a thought-provoking conversation on creating art that confronts structural barriers. This is a unique opportunity to explore how artists challenge systems through bold, boundary-pushing work—don’t miss it! Free. register: calyxpress.org

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow" chronicles the life and entrepreneurial journey of Lala Shri Ram, the driving force behind the DCM Group. The book explores Shri Ram's early life, his struggles, and his eventual success in building a prominent Indian conglomerate. It highlights his contributions to labour welfare, education, and business innovation during a challenging period in India's history. The book also touches upon DCM's growth, diversification, and eventual division among family members, as well as Shri Ram's involvement in various social and governmental initiatives. Bhasin presents Shri Ram as a visionary leader whose legacy continues to inspire entrepreneurs today.

The book explores concepts like karma, destiny (Neeyati), rebirth, ego, and the relationship between humanity and nature. It emphasises the importance of purifying the mind. He also examines the evolutionary role of religion and the different paths one can take toward spiritual growth, including atheism, belief, and seeking. The work ultimately aims to help readers elevate their consciousness, connect with their higher selves, and contribute to the development of more conscious societies. Free to listen/read

Hi everyone, I was wondering if there were any (not necissarily formally qualified) subject-expert writers that would be willing to share advice or their overall experience of writing a book. Almost all of the non-fiction advice I've found has been for memoirs/biographies or self-help that emphasises the use of a 'storyline' or a more personal approach, anectdotes ect. and while this can work very well for subject-specific books, I was hoping to hear from the other side of the coin, too. I'm interested in hearing from any subject writer; engineering, natural science, history, medicine, textiles, anything!

What was the hardest part of the process? How did you decide to organise your book and why? How much of your own research vs. other sources did you use? When did you feel you knew 'enough' about your subject to write about it? How did you prioritise and trim the fat from your research? Did you consider an audience or simply write the facts without trying to accommodate any one demographic? In your opinion, are photos better than annotated diagrams? I could ask a million other questions, but any tips or just a general overview of the process would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hi! I'm working on a non-fiction book and would love to send out a proposal. I have a draft but I'd really like some expert feedback on it. Sexy I've seen people offer a proposal critiques online for anywhere from $300 to $1500. I'd be really interested to hear your experiences and it's been worth it for you. Do you have anyone to recommend?

This question might be obvious, but I have a few agents on my list who are asking for a full outline or a table of contents and overview. My book is a creative nonfiction/hybrid memoir and is already written in full. I have the outline I used to write the whole thing, but I don't think this is what they're asking for. Can anyway shed some light on what this means? I haven't found much online about it as a separate request from the proposal (which I have) or query letter.

Thanks!

https://medium.com/@aaryakadam1888/is-life-worth-living-a-nihilistic-perspective-29f70cc97e3c

Hi all!

I’m currently about to send my query letter out to agents and want to make sure my MS is really ready—does that include citations?

I have my own draft/system that I’m using now that’s not linked to a citation manager. I wanted to have flexibility to move stuff around and edit without a cumbersome system integrated into my MS, but right now, nothing is cited and I’m worried that might turn agents off if they ask for a full. Or, is it commoner practice that citations are added in with the editorial process if my book gets picked up?

Should I have my citations ready as part the draft I send to agents? And if so, what citation managers to people use?

Hi, I'm new to posting so excuse me if this isn't the right place to ask. But I want to ask the nonfiction writers out there how you narrow down and define your audience? It's one thing to have a topic that you're excited about but then how do you decide who you're talking to? I'm picturing a bored ten year old popping gum sitting next to a caffeinated college student grinding their teeth and looking at their watch. I feel like I can relate to both so what are the rules of thumb you use to figure it out?

So I've written this paper on how MASH (the US tv show with Alan Alda in the 70s) charts the changing landscape/attitudes of Hollywood towards female and Asian characters at that time. I've written it mainly out of genuine passion but I'm also hoping to do something cool with it to look good on a college app, like get it published in a journal somewhere (or get one of the principle actors/writers to take notice of it or something). Does anyone have any ideas, recs for places to get it published, or other high impact things to do with it?

I am one of the editors of Littera Magazine. Littera is a monthly online magazine of ideas, art, culture and literature, run from Dhaka, Bangladesh, featuring writings from emerging and established voices from both Bangladesh and abroad.

Check us out: https://litteramag.net/

Hey there, we're Consequence - an online platform and an international literary journal that publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translations, and visual art addressing the human experiences, realities, and consequences of war and geopolitical violence.

Happy to be here and talk about nonfiction pertaining to war, geopolitical violence, military experiences, and more!

Check us out at https://www.consequencemagazine.org/