This is Not Fashion it is Nonfiction. Or is it?
How Does One Write Nonfiction?
Janeen Wright—28 June 2026
Writing nonfiction can be accomplished in several ways which we explain below. To write good non fiction, one should ask themselves a few questions: Can nonfiction be puritanical, gossipy, or fashionable? Why yes it can and we can explain how.
Literary nonfiction should read like unforgettable, immersive journalism. The writer must not only use pacing and tension, but they must also employ the artistry of a fiction novel. One must get the facts straight. Always. Or risk losing credibility.
There are exceptions. Perhaps the sky was not drained of sunshine, nor the frown drawn quite as tight as tight as a drum, but these are concessions made for Literary Nonfiction. A fiction we allow to walk the highwire of storytelling without a safety net. In the end, this form of nonfiction is merely truth dressed in a Chanel LBD twirling an alligator Birkin bag as it invites you to lunch in San Tropez at Le Club 55. It is an upscale tattle-tale subgenre, whose success is usually a black-swan event.
[Stock Image from Pexels]
Creative nonfiction avoids these rules like the plague and is known in some circles as the embellisher’s diary. Facts can be subjective, mostly without consequence. Whilst they are prone to interpretation, and subjectivity, they perhaps are drawn with a pen of hyperbole. This subgenera is also the flat tire on a Mercedes, even if it is like the gossipy cousin you love to catch up with, it will likely never go anywhere in sales.
[Stock Image from Pexels]
And then there is historical nonfiction which has always left the spoils to the winner, sometimes even at the expense of truth.
Whatever subgenre you choose, there is always that annoying use of style. Get it right, or you lose the reader. This is particularly important as nonfiction books statistically sell less copies than fiction books.[1] And since creative nonfictiontends to KO literary nonfiction at the sales booth, it would appear that readers love to smuggle fiction into memoir through interpretation bias.
Pay careful attention to the characters and storyline with a laser-sharp beam. This means selecting facts and scenes that can help you turn a spotlight on your nonfiction focus. As digression is less acceptable in nonfiction, one should remember to keep it to a minimum. Should you make such a faux pas and stray remember Joe Bonomo’s advice to return to the essay’s DNA.[2]
If one is puritanical and a sycophant to the rigidity of nonfiction without the subgenre then here are some tips: The first craft rule should be the elimination of fluff. Facts are stubborn, beautiful things that do not require a heavy frosting of adjectives to make them palatable. If the weather is cold, say it is cold. No need to pontificate, calling it a “terrifically frigid day when the temperature dropped below zero, burning the outer extremities requiring three layers of plaid.”
According to fans of John Hersey, that is not writing. It is fashion design. And well, though his voice has been described as, “calmly reactive, bordering on affectless,”—he did win the Pulitzer Prize at thirty.[3]
The prose must be clear throughout and above all, fair. The syntax must be precise. Literary nonfiction requires a doggedness that asks difficult questions and maintains space between the reporter and the subject.
Above all, whichever method you take, do not bore the reader. The glamorous readers of today are busy, have thin patience, and above all must be entertained.
Armed with this information, The Oxford Review still asks that you follow your heart in nonfiction. We have, more than once, invited the gossipy cousin to spill the tea in an article. We have also admired that literary Chanel dress and wondered why we’ve not been invited back to lunch. Thus, if it is entertaining, please do submit it to The Oxford Review. We will be wating with bated breath.
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