[Armchair BEA] Ethics, anyone? And some non-fiction, too

Button designed by Emily of Emily's Reading Room

For those of you who don't know yet, ArmchairBEA is a way for those book bloggers who cannot attend Book Expo America in Person to get together and meet great people. I did not post an ArmchairBEA post yesterday because my giveaway was already up and running (go check it out, you can enter until Sunday!) the day before and there will be another giveaway on Sunday. Also, I did not have a clue what to write about the topic. I do not generally read literary fiction - do I even know what exactly that is??? *cringe* Today's topic is still somewhat abstract to me with non-fiction being the topic (and you know how many of those I read, don't you?), but it is interesting to dive in & I at least think I know what I'm talking about. But first up, let me give you my Top 3 Pieces of Advice on Ethics.

Ethics - a Top 3

I did not do this week's Top 10 Tuesday because I simply did not have the time, so let me at least give you my Top 3 Pieces of Advice on Ethics

1. Give credit! This one sounds easy, but it can be difficult to figure out where exactly to give credit. I would say, if in doubt, give credit. If you find a piece of advice that you like and that inspires a blog post or part of a post, say so. If you get a picture from somewhere, credit it. Think about what you do. But what if you don't remember where you found your inspiration and if you can't find the original source? Then I would at least say so. In my opinion, a simply "I read something about that but can't find it" is always better than not saying anything.

2. Be true to yourself and your readers! If there is something you do not like, say so, but without making it a personal issue. Never sell yourself, you would also sell your readers to a degree. Be yourself and stay that way. I know it sounds simple yet hard, but you can do it!

3. Be respectful with each other! We are all people, we all have feelings and you don't want to hurt others or be hurt yourself. If in doubt, one of the best pieces of advice regarding this I have heard was to write something and let it sit. If you still believe what you wrote is accurate the next day and you can smile while reading it, it is definitely most likely fine.

Non-Fiction

For the longest time, non-fiction has not been a genre I have been interested in at all. The thought of it alone was enough to make me feel bored stiff. Then, one day, I came across one Bill Bryson's collections of essays and I realized that non-fiction does not have to be dreary, boring, and factual without a sense of humor. I blame him for my occasional ventures into the land of non-fiction!

Nowadays, I can be found looking through the non-fiction section of a book store every now and then, searching for another maybe educating, definitely fun book to read. Bill Bryson is far from the only author who can achieve that.

In fact, I am no longer really put off non-fiction. Another sign for that should be the class on creative non-fiction I am taking right now. It is an interesting form of non-fiction I may have to talk about at a later point. For now, let me tell you that it is fun to read and write (because yes, the class entails us writing some CNF ourselves). Basically, CNF uses literary techniques while remaining accurate where facts are concerned.