Nonfiction Writers Can Learn from Novelists

Only armadillos like soggy middles and sagging holes

Screaming Hairy Armadillo (2015) by Clyde Nishimura, FONZ Photo Club, Smithsonian’s National Zoo: Public Domain image via Rawpixel

Nonfiction writers spend lots of time crafting clickable titles, subtitles, and first lines. The really smart ones calculate how many characters will appear “above the fold” so the text cuts off at the perfect moment to force a click.