Writing About Reality in an Alice in Wonderland World: How to Write Non-Fiction
The non-fiction form has undergone a transformation in the past decade. Many more books now are published that blur the line between fiction and non-fiction. And in other cases, the standards for literary excellence in non-fiction writing have risen; no longer is non-fiction thought primarily as a way to transfer knowledge gleaned from research or insight or interview. Non-fiction now describes a robust category of high quality writing on a diverse set of subjects that is meant to be both informative and entertaining.
First, the creative aspect of the cook book is not so much in the book, but in the cooking. Creativity typically takes a backseat to communicating the useful technical information required to help the reader successfully replicate a recipe. Cookbooks certainly can be creative, but most of this is confined to the layout, organization, and photography in the book. Cookbooks are first and foremost, user manuals, though there is a special category of cookbook that is as much an art book as a manual.
Clarity in communication is vital in a cookbook. For those with a lot of experience in the kitchen, the hard part of writing a book can be in determining the difference between what they know and what is known by the typical reader of their book. You want to make sure that cooking instructions are clear, concise, and can be easily followed. Of course, different books are on paper for those with differing levels of kitchen expertise, so the key is to make sure you know what your audience does and does not know.
One method used by cookbook writers is to have the recipes tested by people with the level of expertise to which they are writing. This helps them to identify where changes need to be made for clarity or conciseness.
Photographs are a huge component of cookbooks. Not only to do they help the reader to visualize how a recipe is supposed to look when complete, they are inspiring and often gorgeous to look at when done well.
4. Read: The writing of fantastic non-fiction is about 10% writing, and 90% researching, thinking, and reading other works. If you follow the first tip above, then this part will be the labor of like in the process of writing your non-fiction book.
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