In our daily lives, we avoid conflict, navigating the day to minimize stress, not exacerbate it. But when we’re looking for a good book or a binge-worthy Netflix series, we’re looking for trouble. Narrative conflict and the ratcheting tension of a plot create the trouble that keeps us in our seats. In fiction, writers want readers asking, “What’s going to happen next?” The
goal is to keep readers reading.
Nonfiction writers have the same goal, but the challenge is different. When writing nonfiction, we have the whole gamut of narrative techniques at our disposal, but we aren’t just telling a story; we also have to deliver information or make an argument—or both. We need some method for creating the tension of a story, while carving out space for the information or claims of our nonfiction.
Students who understand the tension inherent in their topics are in a better position to employ the tools of narrative tension to engage their readers. They ask questions like these, first of mentor texts, and then of their own topics:
When students examine two sides of an issue, encourage them to think about how to use the inherent tension in any controversial topic as a narrative technique to keep the reader reading. If a student can establish a conflict between Group A and Group B from the beginning of a nonfiction essay, the drama between the two opposing groups naturally serves the engagement.
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The above has been adapted from Story Matters. Learn more at Heinemann.com