When the Urge to Write Nonfiction is Stronger than the Urge to Write Fiction:Why Not? Sometimes writers feel strongly about something, because they are writers they are often compelled to respond in writing. This can be some of the most profound writing the writer will produce, simply because even in writing fiction, passion most often drives the plot and the action. So, when a writer takes up a cause or responds to a compelling emotion the result is most often a powerful text. Often life experiences, circumstances, situations, and every day drama all find their way into the production that we call writing, whether that writing is fiction or nonfiction. As a writer I often find myself writing during those times when I am most emotionally impacted, or affected by situations and circumstances of life. Because of this, I think that it is very therapeutic for writers to have a broad repertoire of writing experiences, be those across genres, or as a combination of fiction and nonfiction writing. In my opinion, the more outlets that writers have for exercising their craft, and the more varied the writing experiences, the more development and potential growth the writer experiences. While some writers may excel in a specific genre, other writers may find that having a variety of options leads to greater capacity for writing and developing their craft. I say all this to say that writers are as unique in style and specificity as they are in number. This means that diversity is part and parcel of the writing condition. One thing is certain, and that is that writing fiction is safe; audiences may speculate about relations between a writer and the fiction that he or she produces, but nothing can be ascertained with certainty, and even so fiction writers are protected by disclaimers which clearly note that the work and the characters are products of the writers' imagination; however, this is not the case for nonfiction writers, because all too often the writer is directly associated, and or related to the text and the story that he or she produces. Therefore, there is somewhat of a double indemnity for writers of nonfiction. As a non-fiction writer you may have a wonderful story to tell, and all the world wants to hear it, or you must bear your dirty laundry and prepare be criticized by the world/your audience. Most often, the more controversial your story, the greater your earnings and acclaim. in fact, if you have suffered much and are able to relate this well in your writing your likelihood of reaching the New York Times bestseller list are even greater. For fiction writers the path to the New York Times bestsellers list is simply a matter of how well you tell your story, and how large an audience there is for your work. What this amounts to in more practical terms is larger numbers of fictional works addressing topics of controversy, and smaller numbers of nonfiction works in which writers bare their souls and share the most intimate details of their personal lives and struggles. What this also means is that we can read fiction and sometimes make accurate assumptions that writers are actually addressing real-life conditions in part or in whole (as if audiences really care). You may note that when a tell-all book comes out as a work of nonfiction it is generally authored by a celebrity, either with a ghost writer, or as a debut work; either way, the celebrity is already a known name and often a well-monied figure. Is this one of those conditions that impacts the significant gap that exists between the earnings of fiction writers and nonfiction writers? Also, is it safer to write self-help topics, and get rich quick schemes, as opposed to opening up about the tragedies, challenges, and struggles of everyday life as truths of daily existence, particularly when the content may be autobiographical?