Why should you write nonfiction? At the top of the list are two reasons. First, writing nonfiction is a great way to launch your writing career. Second, nonfiction is much more profitable than fiction and it outsells fiction 5 to 1. Other reasons? For starters, nonfiction has fewer rules to follow and it’s easier to break into the nonfiction market because publishers are always looking for writers with new ideas. Nonfiction is also easier and quicker to write and the list of subjects is infinite. You don’t have to write dialogue in nonfiction, a skill in itself that you don’t have to stress over.

So, if you’ve decided to write nonfiction, where do you begin? You need an idea and there are ideas all around to attract your attention. But perhaps it’s best to choose an idea that you can relate to, that you already know something about. Still stumped? Here are some ways to generate your ideas.

Make a list (I’m always one to promote list-making skills). List your areas of expertise, your interests, hobbies, and anything about which you feel you possess considerable knowledge. Are you a baker who excels in creating the next best batch of chocolate brownies? Are you a gardener who loves to grow unusual plants? I know and I’ve had considerable success in marketing my stories about baking and gardening. List your academic background, your work experiences, and even volunteer activities. Once you’ve completed your list-making activity, pick a subject from the list, and narrow it down to a specific topic. When I started writing in the gardening genre, I chose to write about my great-grandfather’s rhubarb. It developed into a story, with tidbits of useful information I’d learned from both my great-grandfather and my mother. I sent it out on spec, hoping to attract some attention. I did and it was published online. The next gardening story had me doing some research first to discover whether my chosen topic was marketable and not overdone by other writers. I set up a routine that I’ve continued to this day.

Perhaps a good extension of the list activity is to try clustering. This allows the writer to play around with words and cluster ideas related to that word. Write any word in the center of a sheet of paper and circle it. This is like the hubcap on your car. Extend tentacles in all directions and write words that relate to this main word. Let’s use the root word, “rhubarb,” the very word that developed into my gardening story. Now add words related to “rhubarb,” like: garden, great-grandfather, pies, and so on. All good story material. And, don’t forget the research you’ve done for your one story; your notes can, and should, generate more story ideas.

Nonfiction launched my writing career in so many ways. I still enjoy the challenge of writing an article on various topics. I have to admit that I find writing nonfiction much faster than fiction and it’s even easier since I don’t have to worry about dialogue, descriptive narrative passages, plot development, and characterization. Another bonus is that sometimes the nonfiction material is later used in my fiction stories, and I never seem to run out of ideas. The task of writing nonfiction has certainly tightened my writing and improved both my writing and my research skills. Nonfiction has laid the foundation for my fiction and nonfiction writing.