Nicolas ColeCo-Founder Ship 30 for 30, Premium Ghostwriting Academy

Nonfiction Writing's Challenge Lies In Its Simplicity #shorts

15 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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In this short monologue, Nicolas Cole argues that nonfiction writing, while seemingly straightforward compared to more layered creative forms like novels or screenplays, is actually challenging because its simplicity leaves little room for hidden meaning. Since nonfiction is accessible to anyone, the primary measure of success is how well the writer serves the reader. Cole breaks this down into two levels: the macro level, where the entire book must consistently answer the reader’s needs, and the micro level, where each paragraph, example, tip, or step must be actionable, specific, objective, and tangible. The overall message is that the very ease of nonfiction makes the standards for usefulness and clarity higher, demanding precision and concrete value at every scale.

Chapters

I think part of what makes nonfiction so challenging is that relative to lots of other different types of writing, like literature is a great example, nonfiction is very easy. Writing nonfiction is not that complicated of a skill compared to novel writing or screenwriting or some of these other more quote unquote creative types of writing where you're managing many more layers of meaning. Nonfiction is really like one layer of meaning. The challenge with things that are more accessible is that it's Simplicity is what makes it complicated. Because writing nonfiction is a fairly accessible thing, and it is something where anyone can write a nonfiction book, the counterpoint to that and the challenge is that the only thing that really matters is what is the degree to which you are helping the reader. And that's happening at the macro level— are you answering that over the course of an entire book? And that's happening at the micro level within a single paragraph. It's like if you're going to give an example or you're going to give a tip or you're going to give a step, how actionable is that? How specific is that? How objective is that? How tangible is that?