Storytelling in Nonfiction: BlogchatterWritFest

If you want to engage someone, tell them stories. 

Nonfiction is not really my favourite genre, but I believe including real life experiences and anecdotes makes them more interesting and engaging. There are very few nonfiction books that I like, and I liked them for their storytelling. I always feel, storytelling is more important than the story. 

Blogchatter is conducting its 7th season of WritFest, a wonderful writing festival. So, when they announced their session on Storytelling in Nonfiction, I felt intrigued to watch it. It was a fun, insightful and engaging conversation, wonderfully moderated by Sonia Dogra. She was in conversation with Ashdin Doctor (author of Change Your Habits, Change Your Life : Your Guide to an Awesome Life, published by Harper Collins India) and Reema Ahmad (author of Unparenting: Sharing Awkward Truths with Curious Kids, published by Penguin India).

One of Reema Ahmad's statements stayed with me.

'One story is not just one story but multiple threads of different stories.'

As I feel ki, 'कहानियां कभी खत्म नहीं होतीं।'

When you're writing nonfiction, it's very important to write it in a creative way. So, how can you make nonfiction creative and more relatable?

By including real life/personal experiences: Here's an important and thoughtful point by Ashdin, 'Creativity is connecting various unrelated ideas. Getting a variety of streams of information and experiences in your life helps. The more ideas you have; the more experiences you have; the more things you're constantly learning, the more ways in which you can connect them and bring them to the forefront.'

Including real life stories and ideas makes your writing more authentic and relatable.

One more advice that I found insightful was, again by Ashdin: 'Read the competing books later (after completing the book/article) because things you read stay in your mind, which might affect your writing subconsciously.'

You can watch the full video HERE.