I write nonfiction in this thriller-esque style. I have all the facts; I research it. I have thousands of pages of court documents... I try to get inside my stories.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
But with nonfiction, the task is very straightforward: Do the research, tell the story.
Writing a nonfiction story is like cracking a safe. It seems impossible at the beginning, but once you're in, you're in.
You can tell a more over-the-top incredible story if you use a nonfiction form.
For me a thriller is a very carefully structured story.
I read almost exclusively nonfiction when I read, because even though it's harder to find a great true story, when you find one, the idea that it actually happened is immensely powerful.That's what moves me the most.
My work was entirely nonfiction.
With fiction, you can take something that bothers you, or that you don't have in clear focus, and you can put it under as much stress as you want. Really get underneath the skin. With nonfiction, you're restricted to what happened.
I tend to research as I write so that the narrative can take priority, which is important for a piece of fiction, I think, finding out facts as and when I need to.
I don't do nonfiction anymore. Eventually, you just feel constrained by the facts. You want to go where the words take you, and people's actual lives don't always conform. And you can't know them that well.
Truly I never thought of myself as writing legal thrillers, and I still don't think I do. I write stories about women.