Recently I read The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. It’s the nonfiction narrative of nine young American men on the University of Washington rowing team. It follows their quest for the gold medal in the 1936 Olympics.

I already knew that the UW team had won, but the story of its characters still hooked me. The author traced the bonding that developed between these unlikely sons of depression era loggers and farmers and laborers.

The desire to know HOW the triumph happened and WHY the young men developed as they did kept me reading. I wanted to follow the dynamics binding this group together.

The suspense of character can be every bit as suspenseful as plot, in fiction and nonfiction.

I’m told that a few readers even look at the last few pages of a book before they begin the book. They wish to enjoy how the story and the characters develop, more important to them than the way it ends.

Why not? Good writing mirrors life, and the whole of life is important, not just the ending.