Non-fiction to improve your fiction

My friend and fellow author Brian Thornton asked an interesting and provocative question of several writers:

What non-fiction book made you a better fiction writer?

Brian compiled responses from several terrific authors in two posts at SleuthSayers, one here and the second here.

As would any recovering political hack and PR flack, I answered the question I wanted to answer instead of the question Brian asked:

If I had only one book, it would be The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr.

For all the chatter and conventional wisdom we hear about “narrative” and how humans are genetically wired to respond to stories more than facts, this book explains the actual mechanisms of action.

But if I had more than one book. . . .

I regularly recommend two series of three books each. About these six books, I tell colleagues:

“If you read these books, you will learn everything you need to know about being a professional communicator of any kind — from PR and marketing to writing novels.”

Lots of other books — including many great once that I’ve enjoyed — will reinforce what these books teach.

However, you would be hard-pressed to learn anything new from books not on this list.

Series One

The [previously mentioned] Science of Storytelling explains how stories affect humans at a cellular level.

Into the Woods: A Five Act Journey into Story by John Yorke explains how patterns of storytelling affect the audience and, IMHO, the right approach to what conventional wisdom frequently and inaccurately refers to as “the three-act structure.”

Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee translates Storr’s and Yorke’s strategic insights into tactics that put storytelling meat on structural bones. For all the good sport made of McKee’s formulaic approach, this book is a classic for a reason.

Series Two

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman explains through research and study findings the cognitive biases created by the human affinity for telling stories. Kahneman explains Storr’s sources of the evolutionary biology that tunes humans to ignore facts and follow emotions.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini is the reference bible for anyone and everyone in the industry of motivating people to action. Cialdini wrote this book as a manual for people to resist the strategies and tactics of snake-oil salesmen and related hucksters. No consumer advocate ever sought his advice, but now he’s among the highest-paid speakers at sales conferences around the world.

Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense by Rory Sutherland explains how and why irrationality is the path to success in storytelling. This book is a breezy, entertaining flight over the terrain mapped by Kahneman and Cialdini.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.