Fictional Article: Lack of Tension = Boring?

It depends on the case an if the perp was guilty andgot off you got a little lee way andyou can always throw a twist in at the end, learning stuff , exploring charachters is interesting in itself , but you could throw a sub plot in e.g one lawyer might be trying to throw the case an the ethical stuff with them perhaps getting caught at the real end of the story.

The way you explain the story does make it sound lacking in tension. But everything depends on execution. If your narrator's involved in the story in some way, if there are high stakes involved even after the verdict, or if the narrator uncovers new information that casts a whole new light on the case, you could have something.

If it's just a recitation of facts, then not so much.

Consider what draws you to telling this story. That aspect, whatever it is, is the same thing that, if well rendered, will draw readers.

"Epistolary" means it was written as if it were a letter or email. I think you mean "expository." An epistolary exposition could easily be a thing.

There's lot of expository writing in non-fic, and much of it anything but bores the reader it done well. Writing fiction in this style can be quite effective. What makes it done well? For me, it's if I'm learning something. If it builds then unravels an intellectual mystery for me. There doesn't have to be a big "tah dah!" reveal at the end, but I need to be more educated on a subject I care about. The tension, maybe, is between me and the subject. If the author can anticipate what I already know, play on what I don't know but want to, then lead me through the exposition, I am hooked. Even if it's a fictional topic or event.

Good non-fic examples: "How I Became a Prison Gardener" by Michele Scott. This originally appeared in The Marshall Project and is included in the 2016 Best American Non-Required Reading. Why it worked for me is that prison life is somewhat mysterious to me. All I have are stories from people I know who've been in, friends who've done prison ministries, and (the worst source) TV and movies. Another, also in the 2016 BANRR: "Death Qualified" by Gary Indiana (shoot, either that's a genius pseudonym or he has very cruel parents), which is a book review of a biography of the Tsarnaev brothers (the Boston Marathon bombers). Why it worked for me: It educated me on the subject without me having to read the entire book Indiana is reviewing. A podcast that sets the standard for me is Radiolab's HIV Patient Zero: The Origin of AIDS. Give these a read/listen if you can find them. I'd eagerly read fiction written in this style.

An example that doesn't work for me: The World Until Yesterday by Jared Diamond. This is the fourth or fifth book by Diamond that I have read, so to me it's very predictable. It's a long list of generalizations based on four cultures Diamond knows a lot about, and his conclusions are pretty much "well, duh," even if I wouldn't have thought about it before. There's no unraveling of a mystery.

Taylor Harbin said:

Doh. Expository. You're right. What drew me to the story? I was reading a BBC article that claimed the Chinese character meaning "busy" is made of two others: heart and killing. Some research proves this was not the case and Americans have long misunderstood Chinese words going all the way back to the beginning of missionary work in the 1930s. I thought, "What if a magic system was based on written words and a healer is falsely accused of manslaughter/negligent homicide because of people's ignorance?" Expert testimony would be needed to get the accused off the hook, since circumstances are not in his favor. I thought a fake editorial right after the verdict would be a good way convey lots of information without bloating the word count, since legal cases take years to resolve...but you all might have a point.

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I'd think that as long as the "case" itself is interesting, you should be fine. I read news articles all the time and they're plenty interesting, even if the author of the article wasn't personally involved in the events.

Hmmm, actually now you've given ME an idea for a story: An alternate universe sort of deal where news articles can only be written by people who were directly involved in the events described. That has all kinds of fun potential.

There's one other angle you could take on this. Nabokov wrote a book called Pale Fire, which is a poem written by a fictional poet. The poem itself is incredibly well written but doesn't necessarily have much plot or tension in it. Instead, the whole 'story' (which is insane - in a good way) gets told through footnotes and mark ups by the poet's editor. Maybe your article can be can be pretty straight-laced but you add more intrigue through a similar device? (notes, correspondence, etc.). Or it could be a collection of different articles which contradict each other, add multiple layers, etc. His Bloody project is a pretty good example of this (though the majority of it, the middle, is 'regular' prose)

Taylor Harbin said:

Everything has already happened and the narrator is just relating facts.

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So, every book written in past tense lacks tension, because there, too, everything has already happened and the narrator is just relating facts? There's something wrong in this line of thought...

Have you never reread a favorite story? Did it bore you?

I wonder whether you could have an epistolatory element to it. Maybe an article that a know-it-all reader responds to? And you could cover the ‘case’ in mutiple articles. I think some compare and contrast is needed, otherwise people might just rather read real news as opposed to fake news.