I start a lot of books—but I don't finish them all.

I'll give any book a few chapters to see if it grabs me, but there are far too many books in the world (and life is far too short) to waste my precious reading time on something that isn't captivating.

So, what makes a book captivating?

It's not the subject matter. It's the way it's written.

Is the author explaining events and ideas like a bored lecturer? Or are they sucking me into their world, scene by scene?

Writing in scenes is more immersive to the reader. Done well, a good nonfiction scene can read like the best novel, pulling you into the moment and letting you lose yourself as though you're actually there.

That's why I love Leah Sottile's books—they're nonfiction, but they read like page-turners because she's so good at drawing you into the world.

In our conversation yesterday (replay link below!) I asked her how she approaches writing scenes.

As a journalist, Leah starts with the source material.

In her two books, When the Moon Turns to Blood and Blazing Eye Sees All, Leah drew on police body cam footage, which gave her visuals and exact dialogue that she could weave context around. She could describe exactly how a character said something, what they were wearing, and how they gestured—even though she wasn't there to witness it herself.

Writing scenes that way makes them more engaging. And it also helps paint a clearer picture of the characters who are involved in the story. As Leah said in our call, "I'm trying to put the reader in that moment and see how this person is speaking and reacting."

There's tons more good stuff in the full interview! It will be free for 72 hours, after which it will only be available to Story Rebel Club members.

​Go watch it here.

It's great if you have body cam footage or other recordings to work off of, sure.

But for those of you who are writing memoir, you probably didn't have a tape recorder with you during every important moment of your life. You may not remember every detail exactly. So, what should you do then?

Well, there's a reason memoir is held to a different standard than journalism—the author is reporting from their own memory, telling events as they recall them. The reader knows they're being told a story through one person's bias.

So, you should do your best to be accurate, but don't sweat the exact details.

(And don't forget, in December we'll be talking with memoirist Rachael Herron! I'll definitely be asking her about filling in the gaps of your memories when writing memoir.)

No matter what type of nonfiction you're writing, I encourage you to think about writing in scenes as much as possible. Use tactile senses to get people into the moment, use dialogue and emotion to pull them into the conversations, and use a sense of mystery to keep them glued to the page.

I'll be talking about that more in next week's email. ;)

Talk soon,

Jessie