Nonfiction Writings
All writing can be generally divided into two categories: fiction and nonfiction. While fiction deals with stories invented by an author, nonfiction is writing that is true or factual. A broad category, nonfiction encompasses textbooks, travel guides, biographies, newspaper articles, self-help books, memoirs, opinion commentary, and more.
Types of Nonfiction
The nonfiction genres can be further divided into two types.
•Informational nonfiction includes a variety of factual texts intended to provide information.
•Literary nonfiction uses literary elements such as plot, characters, and setting to convey factual information.
The following table lists several subgenres of nonfiction and designates them as informational or literary nonfiction.
| Subgenre | Description | Informational or Literary Nonfiction? |
|---|---|---|
| Biography | Describes the life of a real person | Literary |
| Autobiography | An author describes their own life | Literary |
| Self-help | Gives advice on a specific topic | Informational |
| Guides and How-to Books | Step-by-step instructions on a specific topic | Informational |
| Academic Texts | Comprehensive knowledge on a specific topic | Informational |
| Journalism | Newspapers, periodicals, and other forms of reporting on current events | Informational |
| Travel Guides | Information related to travel to specific destinations | Informational |
| Commentary/Opinion | Author’s opinion and insight on real events or ideas | Informational |
Nonfiction works vary in length and often include formatted information, such as charts, graphs, tables, maps, glossaries, headings, and subheadings.
What Is the Difference between Biography and Autobiography?
Two major forms of literary nonfiction are biography and autobiography. What is the difference between biography and autobiography?
•A biography is a life story written by an author about a real person, living or dead.
•An autobiography is a life story written by an author about their own life.
Because both are literary works, biography and autobiography both contain story elements. The subject and other people in their story are characters, and the story usually includes a basic plot and one or more settings.
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Nonfiction Biography
Is a biography fiction or nonfiction? A biography is a story intended to tell the true facts about the life of a real person. The biography definition in literature has three basic elements:
•Biographer: the author, who writes about another person’s life
•Subject: the individual whose life is covered by the biography
•Third-person point of view: the action of the story is narrated by an outside observer (the biographer)
To write a nonfiction biography, the biographer selects a subject then researches that person’s life. Biographical research can take many forms, such as:
•Interviewing the subject directly.
•Reading or watching interviews with the subject from a variety of news and personal sources.
•Interviewing people close to the subject, such as family, friends, and colleagues.
•Reading texts written by the subject, such as books, articles, journals, or blogs.
•Reading and viewing other material written about the subject.
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A good biographer strives to be unbiased, to present not only strengths and accomplishments, but also weaknesses and failures. The goal of a good nonfiction biography is to give an accurate and truthful report of the subject’s life.
Some popular nonfiction biography examples include:
•True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, by Abraham Riesman. This biography of a pop culture and comic icon receives acclaim for its engaging literary style while telling a life story.
•Cokie: A Life Well Lived, by Steven V. Roberts. This biography of a television and radio celebrity is written by her husband and provides a unique perspective on her life.
•Barack Obama: A Biography of an American President, by Jerry Wilson. This presidential biography is an example of a biography with a living subject.
Biographies are often the same length as a novel, but many publishers also produce biographies for children that include graphics and illustrations.
Nonfiction Autobiography
What is a nonfiction autobiography? It is a story about a person’s life written by that person. A key facet of an autobiography is its use of the first-person point of view. Because of this limited perspective, autobiographies may be more biased than biographies. A writer may attempt to present themselves in a certain light or even use their autobiography to persuade readers to a specific point of view.
Some autobiographies are written by an individual attempting to capture most of their life story. This style of autobiography often follows a chronological timeline and focuses on the scope of a life experience. Other autobiographical styles include:
•Memoirs: Memoirs are often in-depth explorations of a short period of the author’s life, or of a single aspect of the author’s life. Memoirs can be more informal and emotional in tone.
•Diaries and Journals: Both diaries and journals chronicle an author’s observations, thoughts, feelings, and activities on a day-by-day basis. Authors sometimes publish a diary or journal with light editing to give their readers a sense of the progression of events, such as a significant journey or exploration.
Some popular nonfiction autobiography examples include:
•Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank. This diary-style autobiography chronicles Anne Frank’s life while hiding from the Nazis during World War II.
•Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, by Nelson Mandela. This autobiography chronicles the life of a groundbreaking South African leader. While writing, Mandela drew from material he wrote in prison and chronicled his life and accomplishments after imprisonment.
•Freckled: A Memoir of Growing up Wild in Hawaii, by TW Neal. This book is an example of a memoir-style autobiography, in which an author and social worker relays stories from her life.
Like biographies, autobiographies vary in length, and some are written specifically for a younger audience.
Lesson Summary
Nonfiction is writing that is true or factual. There are two basic types of nonfiction writing: informational nonfiction, which is factual text designed to convey information (such as self-help, guides and how-to books, academic texts, journalism, travel guides, and commentary/opinion) and literary nonfiction, which is fact-based text with literary elements (such as biography and autobiography).
A biography is a true story about someone’s life. A nonfiction biography requires a biographer (the author, writing about another person), a subject (the person being written about), and use of the third-person point of view. A biography aims to present an unbiased picture of a person’s life. A biographer may research through interviews with the subject and others, reading and viewing information about the subject, and reading texts written by the subject. An autobiography is a story about a person’s life written by that person. Autobiographies use the first-person point of view and may be biased. Some autobiographies are chronological and comprehensive, while others, such as memoirs, may focus on specific times or elements of a person’s experience. Diaries and journals are also forms of autobiography.