Join award-winning author Rebecca Giggs in this practical three-part course on structuring the non-fiction book.
Between now and 11.59pm (AEST) Sunday 10 August, KYD members can enjoy $50 off this new online writing course! Become a KYD member before 10 August to receive this special discount, plus 10% off all other courses. If you are already a member, check your inbox for your special discount code.
One of the biggest challenges of writing narrative non-fiction lies in constructing your project. Even if you know what you want to convey and how you want your writing to be read, organising your material into a compelling, intuitive framework can prove to be a significant stumbling block.
In this new course, Rebecca Giggs, the award-winning author of Fathoms and contributor to prestigious magazines such as The New Yorker and The Atlantic, offers a comprehensive framework for planning your non-fiction manuscript. Through a series of reflective insights, close readings and writing exercises, you will explore how to best tell your stories. From choosing whether chapters are character-led or thematic, to managing plot, conflict resolution and narrative arc in true stories, this course will equip you with the tools, strategies and approaches to give your project an enhanced prospect of publication.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Understanding the core components publishers look for in deciding whether a non-fiction proposal merits a book-length exploration
- How to use personal experiences and anecdotes to drive your narrative
- Techniques for organising your research and fieldwork outcomes
- How to approach generating and grouping early passages of writing for prospective submission to publishers and agents
- Taking inspiration from other successful non-fiction books
- Different approaches to composing a full-book outline: timelines, diagramming and drafting a table of contents
You will also learn:
- To think in terms of scenes and exposition as a means of modulating pacing
- Common structures found in non-fiction books that can be applied to your own projects
- Some more experimental approaches to structure, including ‘genre-smashes’
- How to use writing exercises to give shape and order to your book-length ideas
Member Exclusive: KYD members receive a $50 discount on this course. Offer ends August 10. (Check your email for the code).
Not a member yet? Become a member here, or contact [email protected] for more information.
Meet Your Teacher: Rebecca Giggs
Rebecca Giggs is from Boorloo, Perth. Her work has appeared in the The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic, Emergence, Granta, and in anthologies including Best Australian Essays and Best Australian Science Writing. Rebecca’s non-fiction focuses on how people feel towards animals in a time of technological and ecological change. Her debut book, Fathoms: The World in the Whale, won the prestigious ALA Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and has since been translated into several languages.
Meet Your School: Kill Your Darlings
Founded in 2010, Kill Your Darlings (KYD) is one of Australia’s most trusted independent literary organisations. As well as writing courses, KYD also runs several writing awards and provides professional editorial services such as mentorships and manuscript assessments. To take full advantage of all KYD's opportunities, services and generous discounts, please consider becoming a member today.
Visit killyourdarlings.com.au to find out more.
Curriculum
- A Book-Shaped Idea (3:48)
- Things Books Can and Can't Do
- The Core Ingredients
- Your Response to the Dot Points
- Approaches to Core Ingredients
- First Ingredient—The ‘Origin Myth’
- What Have We Learned?
- My Book, Fathoms
- Answering Why Now?
- Biography
- Exercise: Your Bookshelf
- Exercise: Your Book's Beginnings
- The Origin Myth in Context
- Second Core Ingredient—Questions
- Sequential Chapters with Linked Questions
- A ‘Canopy Question’
- Essay Collections
- Simplify and Think of the Reader
- Questions as Narrative ‘Gateways’
- Exericse: A Reader’s Questions
- Exercise: Building Your Driving Questions
- Third Ingredient—A Hypothesis
- Exercise: Where Will Your Journey Lead?
- Fourth Ingredient—Originality
- Originality (2:24)
- Exercise: What’s Your Angle?
- Fifth Ingredient—A Narrative Arc
- Scene-Setting and Worldbuilding
- Rising Action
- Friction
- What About the Rising Part of Rising Action?
- Known Events
- What We Can Learn from Fiction
- Non-fiction’s ‘Dark Night of the Soul’
- Crisis and Climax
- In My Own Practice
- Denouement and Closure
- Summarising the Narrative Arc
- Exercise: Narrative Arc
- Inquiry-led Books
Frequently Asked Questions
When do these courses start and finish?
The courses start now and never end! These are completely self-paced online courses - you decide when you start and when you finish. We encourage you to approach this material not just as lessons to be finished once and for all, but also as a collection of resources to which you can return time and again.
How long do I have access to the courses?
Forever! After enrolling, you have unlimited lifetime access to these courses - across any and all devices you own.
Does the teacher provide feedback?
No. If you are interested in receiving feedback on your project, we encourage you to check out KYD's Manuscript Assessment Service:
killyourdarlings.com.au/shop/manuscript-assessments/
How do I access my courses?
All our online workshops are hosted at kill-your-darlings.teachable.com, via the Teachable platform. You can access your course by logging in at that link, or by following the link in your welcome email when you enrol. Please note that as the Teachable platform is a separate website to KYD you will need to create a new account, and will not be able to use your KYD login details.
I'm a KYD member. How do I receive my $50 discount?
Click on 'Enrol now for $249'. Enter the coupon code that was emailed to you on Thursday July 24. If you can't find your code, please email us and we'll be happy to remind you!
What if I have another question?
You can email us at [email protected] and we'll be happy to help!