You've probably heard the advice that "less is more," but honestly, when it comes to a fiction or nonfiction one-pager, less is just a lot of extra work. Most people think they can just sit down and vent for five hundred words and call it a day. It doesn't work like that. Writing a tight, punchy single page—whether it's a pitch, a personal essay, or a flash fiction piece—is basically an exercise in literary surgery. You're cutting away the fat until you hit the bone, and sometimes you accidentally cut the bone too.
It's tough.
I’ve seen people spend weeks on a 300-page manuscript only to get stuck on the one-page summary. Why? Because you can’t hide in a one-pager. In a novel, you can have a "slow" chapter. In a long-form journalistic piece, you can meander into some historical context for a few paragraphs. On a one-pager, every single sentence has to justify its existence or it’s gone.
The Reality of the Fiction and Nonfiction One-Pager
Let's be real about what we're actually talking about here. A fiction or nonfiction one-pager serves a specific master. In the business world, it’s often an executive summary or a brand story. In the literary world, it’s a "one-sheet" or a "sell sheet" used to convince an agent that your book isn't a total waste of their time.
If you're writing nonfiction, you're dealing with the "What's in it for me?" factor. Readers are selfish. They have four tabs open, a cat meowing at them, and a phone buzzing with Discord notifications. If your one-pager doesn't tell them exactly what problem you're solving in the first twenty words, you've already lost.
Fiction is even harder. You have to establish a world, a character, and a conflict in roughly 400 to 500 words. That's it. No room for "The sun rose over the shimmering turquoise hills of the forgotten kingdom" unless that sun is about to explode and kill everyone your reader cares about.
What Most People Get Wrong
Most writers treat a one-pager like a condensed version of a long story. Big mistake. Huge.
You shouldn't try to summarize every plot point. Instead, you need to capture the vibe. If you look at the way professional script readers or literary agents like Janet Reid (the famous "Query Shark") analyze one-pagers, they aren't looking for a beat-by-beat recap. They want to see the "inciting incident" and the "stakes."
If you're writing a nonfiction one-pager, like a bio or a project pitch, stop listing your credentials like a grocery receipt. Nobody cares that you graduated in 2012 with a 3.8 GPA. They care if you can solve the specific headache they have right now.
Structure is a Trap
People love templates. They want a "fill-in-the-blanks" solution for their fiction or nonfiction one-pager. I’m telling you now, if it looks like a template, it’s going in the trash.
Standard structures usually look like this:
- Hook
- Context
- The Meat
- The Ask/Closing
But if you follow that perfectly, you sound like a robot. Or worse, you sound like everyone else.
I recently looked at a one-pager for a tech startup. It was perfect. Perfectly boring. It had all the right headers and all the right buzzwords. I forgot what the company did thirty seconds after closing the PDF. Contrast that with a one-pager I saw for a short story collection where the author started with a single, jarring sentence about a man eating a clock. I still remember that one.
Nonfiction One-Pagers: The Art of the Point
When you’re writing nonfiction, especially for business or personal branding, you have to embrace the "inverted pyramid." This is old-school journalism stuff. Put the most important, "if you stop reading now you still get it" information at the top.
But don't be dry.
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I once worked with a consultant who was trying to write a one-pager for her services. She kept using words like "synergy," "optimization," and "holistic frameworks." I told her to stop. We changed the first line to: "I help managers stop their employees from quitting every six months."
Boom. Suddenly, it’s a real conversation.
The Problem with "Professionalism"
We've been conditioned to think that professional means "devoid of personality." It’s a lie. A fiction or nonfiction one-pager needs a voice. If you’re writing a nonfiction piece about, say, the benefits of a specific diet or a new software tool, use the language people actually use. Use "kinda" if it fits. Be human.
The biggest names in copywriting, like Joe Sugarman or Gary Halbert, knew this decades ago. They wrote to one person. Not a "target audience." Not a "demographic." Just one person.
Fiction One-Pagers: The "Micro" Narrative
In fiction, the one-pager is often called flash fiction or a "sudden story."
The trick here is the "In Media Res" technique. Start in the middle of the action. You don't have time to explain why the protagonist is sad. Show them holding a handful of torn-up wedding photos over a trash can. We get it. We’re caught up. Move on.
The legendary "Shortest Story Ever Told" (often falsely attributed to Hemingway) is the classic: "For sale: Baby shoes, never worn."
Six words.
It’s a one-pager condensed into a single line. It works because the reader's brain fills in all the gaps. When you write your fiction one-pager, leave gaps. Let the reader do some of the work. It makes the story feel bigger than the page it's printed on.
The "High Concept" Hook
If you're using your fiction or nonfiction one-pager as a pitch, you need a high-concept hook. This is usually "X meets Y" or "What if [Insane Premise] happened?"
- Jurassic Park is "What if we brought back dinosaurs and they ate people?"
- The Martian is "What if a guy got stuck on Mars and had to science his way out?"
If you can't summarize the core of your one-pager in a single sentence, you haven't found the core yet. You're still wandering in the woods.
Managing Your White Space
This is the technical side that no one talks about. How the page looks matters as much as what it says.
If I open a one-pager and see a solid wall of text from margin to margin, I’m going to have a physical reaction of dread. My brain will literally say, "No thanks, I'm busy."
You need white space.
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You need short paragraphs.
You need to vary your sentence lengths so the reader's eyes don't glaze over. Look at this article. Some sentences are short. Some are long and flowy, like a river that's had a bit too much rain but eventually finds its way back to the bank.
Typography and Tone
Don't use weird fonts. Stick to something clean. But use bolding and italics to guide the eye. If you want the reader to notice one specific statistic or one specific emotional beat, make it stand out.
But don't overdo it. If everything is bold, nothing is bold.
The Scientific Side: Cognitive Load
There’s actually some psychology behind why a fiction or nonfiction one-pager is so effective. It’s about cognitive load. Our brains can only handle so much new information at once.
According to research into "Dual Coding Theory," people process information better when it’s presented in a way that’s easy to visualize. This is why metaphors are your best friend.
If you're explaining a complex technology in a nonfiction one-pager, don't just explain the circuit board. Tell me it's like a "superhighway for data."
If you're writing fiction, don't just say the character was "scared." Tell me their "stomach felt like a bag of wet glass."
Why One-Pagers Fail
I’ve looked at hundreds of these things. Most fail for one of three reasons.
First, they try to do too much. They want to be a biography, a mission statement, and a product catalog all at once. Pick one.
Second, they are "all about me." The writer spends the whole time talking about their journey and their feelings. Unless you're a celebrity, no one cares about your journey yet. They care about how your story or your information makes them feel.
Third, the ending is weak. They just... stop. Or they say "Thanks for reading!"
Yuck.
Creating Actionable Impact
Whether it's a fiction or nonfiction one-pager, you want the reader to do something when they finish.
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In fiction, you want them to feel a specific emotion or want to read the full-length book. In nonfiction, you want them to click a link, sign a check, or change their mind about a topic.
Don't be afraid to be direct.
If you're pitching a project, tell them exactly what you need. If you're writing a story, leave them on a cliffhanger that makes their skin crawl.
Refining the Draft
Your first draft of a one-pager will probably be two pages. That’s fine.
The real writing happens in the "killing your darlings" phase. Go through every word. Do you really need that adjective? Does that "introductory" paragraph actually add anything, or are you just clearing your throat?
Cut the first two paragraphs. Usually, the story starts on paragraph three.
Nuance and Perspective
It’s also worth noting that the "rules" for a fiction or nonfiction one-pager change depending on the culture you're in. In the US, we tend to like things very direct and "punchy." In some European or Asian business cultures, being that direct can seem rude or unrefined.
Always know who is holding the paper.
If you're writing for a creative writing workshop, you can be more experimental. If you're writing for a VC in Silicon Valley, you better get to the revenue model by line four.
Moving Forward With Your One-Pager
If you're ready to actually sit down and do this, stop thinking about it as "writing." Think about it as "designing."
You are designing an experience that lasts for exactly sixty seconds.
- Start with the "So What?" Before you write a single word, ask yourself why anyone should care. If you don't have a good answer, go for a walk and come back when you do.
- Write the "Messy Middle." Get the ideas down without worrying about the length. Just vomit the information onto the page.
- The "One-Inch" Rule. Look at your draft. If you could only keep one inch of text from the top, what would it be? Make sure that’s your lead.
- Read it Aloud. This is the oldest trick in the book because it works. If you trip over a sentence while reading, your reader will trip over it while thinking. Smooth it out.
- Check the Visuals. Squint at the page. Is it balanced? Does it look "heavy" or "light"? Aim for light.
When you've finished, let it sit for twenty-four hours. You’ll be surprised how much "essential" information looks like clutter the next morning.
The goal isn't to tell the whole story. The goal is to make them want the rest of it. That’s how you win with a fiction or nonfiction one-pager. It’s the appetizer, not the main course. Make it taste good enough that they’re willing to pay for the steak.