Now, and for the rest of my brief life, I’ll be trying to write narrative non-fiction that isn’t entirely crap. Narrative non-fiction is the catch-all term for factual writing that uses narrative, literary-like techniques to create a compelling story for the reader. It’s non-fiction work that goes beyond presenting bland information in chronological order, and instead uses plot, character, structure, tension, and drama to make plain reality more compelling.

Authors like John McPhee , Joan Didion , Tom Wolfe , Jon Krakauer , Oliver Sacks , and Rebecca Solnit epitomise this way of writing.

I’m not a Writer, but I write to explore other things – anthropology, weird cultural quirks in the web development community, interaction design, and the rising field of “ tools for thought

Tools for Thought as Cultural Practices, not Computational Objects

Perhaps you’re the same kind of non-Writer writer. The playful amateur kind who uses it to explore and communicate ideas, rather than making the medium part of your identity. But even amateurs want to be good. I certainly want to get good.

Knowing what you like is half the battle in liking what you create. In that spirit, I collect narrative non-fiction essays that I think are exceptional. They’re worth looking at closely – their opening moves, sentence structure, turns of phrase, and narrative arcs.

The only sensible way to improve your writing is by echoing

The Echo & Narcissus Writing Club

You may want to start your own collection of lovely essays like this. There will certainly be some Real Writers who find my list trite and full of basic, mainstream twaddle. It probably is. I’ve done plenty of self-acceptance work and I’m okay with it.

Twaddle aside, the essays below are worth your attention.

What is Code?

by Paul Ford

Paul Ford explains code in 38,000 words and somehow makes it all accessible, technically accurate, narratively compelling, and most of all, culturally insightful and humanistic.

I have unreasonable feelings about this essay. It is, to me, perfect. Few essays take the interactive medium of the web seriously, and this one takes the cake. Most of the rest live on The Pudding , though they are focused on data visualisation rather than exploring long-form, narrative writing in particular. There is a small blue cube character, logic diagrams, live code snippets to run, GIFs, tangential footnotes, and a certificate of completion at the end.

A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again

by David Foster Wallace – Published under the title ‘Shipping Out’

Forgive me for being a David Foster Wallace admirer. The guy had issues, but this account of his 7-day trip on a luxury cruiseliner expresses an inner monologue that is clarifying, rare and often side-splittingly hilarious.

He taught me it is 100% okay to write an entire side-novel in your footnotes if you need to.

What’s the Point If We Can’t Have Fun?

by David Graeber

Graeber explores play and work from an anthropological perspective. He’s a master of moving between the specific and the general. Between academic theory and personal storytelling. He’s always ready with armfuls of evidence and citations but doesn’t drown you in them.

The Ketchup Conundrum

by Malcolm Gladwell

This piece uses a typical Gladwellian style. He takes a fairly dull question – Why had ketchup stayed the same, while mustard comes in dozens of varieties? – and presents the case in a way that makes it reasonably intriguing. He’s great at starting with specific characters, times and places to draw you in. There are always rich scenes, details, personal profiles, and a grand narrative tying it all together.

Some people find the classic New Yorker essay format overdone, but it relies on storytelling techniques that consistently work.

Quitting the Paint Factory

by Mark Slouka

Goodbye To All That

by Joan Didion