Writing non-fiction

What a great weekend it's been!  We went into Washington, D.C., Friday night and picked up a friend at the airport.  Spent Saturday in the Smithsonian, and I finally got to go see the Asian art exhibit at the Freer.  It's astoundingly beautiful, and it helped quite a bit in putting things in order for my third Return of the Gods book.  I still need more time...nearly an entire day or two, probably...in that exhibit, but it was a great start. 

Today I've gotten most of the day to write.  Writing non-fiction is significantly different from writing fiction, I'm finding.  For one thing, I'm pleased at my accomplishment, which was only about 3K words.  When writing fiction, a solid day at the keyboard would generate at least twice that.  But non-fiction requires a different part of the brain.  Instead of telling a story, massaging it out of the nether with creativity and a touch of humor, I'm talking to a different audience, telling a series of truths that I've known for a while.  I thought it would be easier, honestly, than the fiction writing.  I mean, it's all just the honest truth as I know it set up in a pattern that's already outlined.  It's not, though.  Easier, that is.  There's a lot of effort that goes into stringing together ideas in a persuasive manner, I'm finding.  I'm not shooting for any particular number of words as I write, though I kind of figured it would be less than I wrote for Return of the Gods.  It might be, but it's still a pretty involved process. 

So, all that being said, it's been a good, productive day, tacked on at the end of a good, enjoyable weekend.  Have a great week!