The Captain's Log: A Journey to the 7 Ends of the World

Why is Nonfiction the Genre for You?

How many nonfiction books have you read in your life? AND im talking about books that were not required reading in school.

How many fiction books have you read in your life? AND im not talking about the ones that were required reading in school.

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I am a 150% sure that the second question comparatively speaking, is much easier to answer than the first. Or maybe there both equally hard. People don't read books anymore, am I right?

WRONG!

People read books. I read books, and I know people who read books. Get that ridiculous premonition out of your head, because the longer your stuck thinking like that, the deeper you will fall into the clutches of mob mentality.

Now that that's out of the way, lets talk about books. Specifically fiction, because reading is a dying art, and the majority of the people who take part in its practice, read fiction. Why fiction though? Well if you can remember all those years spent in the educational system, we were taught how to write fiction. We were taught about the magic in the genre. We were taught the concepts, but never how to become writers of the genre. That way, even if we have the courage to take a stab at it, the overwhelming pressure of success, flattens us like pancakes under a hot sun. We read books written by people who have talent in the genre and think to ourselves, "how can I ever be that good?"

Well dear readers, let me just tell you up front, its not about being that good. IF you focus on being that good you will dig yourself into an early grave, because there is no guarantee that youll ever be that good. The only guarantee you will ever have as a writer is that you can be good enough. Good enough to take an opportunity when it presents itself.

That's why nonfiction is the genre for you.

If your like me, you don't have patience for the decadence of fiction. Ohh jeeze I don't, but it doesn't mean I haven't read it before. I have read it before, and there is one line in one of those books has stuck with me for a very long time. Ill just quote The Sound of Waves by Mishima Yukio to avoid any potential cliff hangers, but SPOILER ALERT, there will be a chapter talking about this line and the inspiration it gave me later on in this book, "A man is his ability to get up and go."

Whether we choose to see it this way or not, is irrelevant to the simple reality that we are all writing our own lives into existence, everyday through action or the absence of it. There is a genre for it, and its called nonfiction. But is it that were all so unaware of its power? Well for one, were not taught how to do it. Even though we do it literally all the time. Have you ever messages a friend, and thought to yourself, "wow if I say this right now I will literally alter the relationship I have with this person?" OF COURSE YOU HAVE! That's literally the point of human communication, but is that thought based on fiction? If you say something like and excuse my French here, "I love you," in a message to another person, will things ever be the same?

Ya you could make the argument that they will, but common were humans here, of course they will change. Change the direction of the story your writing, in this genre called nonfiction. Im going to repeat myself a lot in the up and coming chapters, because its not a one and done kind of thing.

And lets not pretend to stand on principle either. Reading nonfiction is no where near as fun as reading fiction, due to the constraints cast upon it by reality. In fact, I would go as far to say that its rather boring. At least in the beginning. Before you gain any traction as a writer, its boring. As with any book, you will have to be ready to endure boredom in order to get to the good parts, however its especially excruciating in nonfiction.

I just wanted to tell you that up front, because eyyy my book is nonfiction. BUT WAIT! I know I just made that parallel, but there is a reason! Just stick with me a little longer and well get there :D

Why do we endure the boredom as readers? Its because secretly we are all hungry for story. We are desperate for story. We need story to make sense of the world around us, however its much easier to read the stories of others as opposed to writing our own. Because writing is a art, and the wealth of knowledge behind it is often hidden in plain sight. Nonfiction un-hides the knowledge. Im not talking about implied learning as what would be the case in fiction, im talking about direct learning. Getting straight to the point. Teaching you new concepts to filter your thinking with. Helping you become a better writer.

Remember, we are all doing it anyway. However, there's a difference between scribbling on a blank page and writing words into existence. The difference is that you need ink to do it. But where does this magical ink come from? Here's a secret dear reader, it comes from the mind, and its called positive thinking. The quill is your passion and the ink your ability to think positively, and when you learn, get more information to use, you may just find yourself stumbling upon courage. Courage to write your own stories into existence.

I have been through a lot over these past 175 years, and don't worry im not going anywhere anytime soon, im living to 2000. Yes, I said im 175 years old and no im not kidding. You see writing gave me the courage to define myself, and when I say 175 years old im talking about experience. Experience that has led me to making dreams I had as a kid, into goals as an adult, and then executing them.

That's the power of writing, but its not inherent. I know its not for a fact. I know that I only have one talent. Yet the one talent I have is the same talent that everyone else has. The talent: being yourself. However, in a world where everything and everyone is telling you to be someone your not, how often have you ever seen "who you are" as a talent. Im very confident in saying, NEVER BEFORE SEEN UNTIL READING THIS CHAPTER.

Now that I have warned you, and you have taken the step to turn the page, or click the continue button in this case, you are ready to start acting upon that talent. And im going to give you another trade secret for making it this far: the more you act, the closer you get to turning it into a skill.

Welcome to The Captain's Log dear reader dear writer, I am Suapgenki, and were going to learn how to integrate positive thinking into our writing in the chapters to come!

CAN YOU FEEL THE GENKI?!