Michael Murphy asked Connie Johnson Hambley:

What are the main differences you found writing non-fiction and fiction?

Connie Johnson Hambley Hi Michael! I like your question. First, there are similarities in fiction and non-fiction. Whether it's writing an article for BusinessWeek or weaving together a story, both require inhaling information, knowing your audience and knowing exactly what you want to communicate. With non-fiction, I exhale an article. With fiction, I exhale whatever I darned well please...sort of.

I am not a seat-of-my-pants writer. I research. I mull things over. I question characters' points of view and motivations. I get lost in my research. With non-fiction/articles, the facts and figures are what readers want to know in an easily digestible format. In fiction, readers don't necessarily want to know they are learning, so the general rule is to NEVER let your research show. Information dumps are frowned upon.

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