[nabs-l] Creative nonfiction

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Ashley,

Creative nonfiction can be any point of view.  You can use first-person,
second and even third.  Conjecture is used too.  CNF, again, is about
true experiences, but writers are allowed to play with the structure.
There is no right or wrong way to write CNF.

Changing POV, format and structure allow you to not only construct
nonfiction in a more creative way, but it helps to find deeper meanings
in our lives, and ultimately reach for a universal.

Autobiography begins at point A and tells an entire life story.  I was
born, I lived, these were my accomplishments.  Usually autobiography is
told in a linear fashion.

Memoir takes specific instances from a persons life.  It does not
necessarily attempt to tell an entire life.  A memoir is a narrative and
often the story is not told in a linear arc.  It employs dialogue,
flashbacks and other literary devices to tell the story.  It may begin
in the present and move back in time.  It is all true, but it is written
using fictional techniques.  Many memoirs read like novels because of
this.

Personal essays focus on one event or story that is true.  Again, often
the same techniques are used, but unlike memoirs, they are not told in a
narrative, meaning a personal essay can stand on its own, whereas most
memoirs have to be read in its entirety-- it is written as a thread like
a novel, but personal essays stand alone.

Creative nonfiction is nonfiction, but essentially written with
fictional techniques.  The focus is on the "show" and not always the
"tell."  There is no one way to write CNF.  I wrote a piece about an
experience I had in the hospital, but I told it as though it were my
mother's story-- it was conjecture.  I basically stepped into her mind,
so to speak, and wrote the personal essay in third person limited
through my mom's eyes.

I do use first person a lot too since this is the traditional method for
nonfiction, but I experiment with form and structure a lot too.  Some
CNF writers stick to more traditional forms, and others are really crazy
and out there.

The one thing to keep in mind is that anything advertised as creative
nonfiction is true, or should be.  When dialogue or flashback or
conjecture are use, the writer is creating this material to the best of
their knowledge and memory.  The story is about a writers experience, or
about real life situations, they just attempt to bring more creativity
to the story.

This form, creative nonfiction, has been around for a very long time,
but only within the last 30 years or so have people used the term
creative nonfiction.  It has become a sub-division of nonfiction now
usually including memoir, personal essay and literary journalism.

I have not looked on Book Share much, but I understand they have quite a
few CNF writers, and BARD does have some David Sedaris and Maxine Hong
Kingston, but often I can not find what I am looking for on BARD.

Bridgit

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Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2011 17:05:14 -0400
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Bridget,
That is neat.  I should read more memoirs; not sure the difference
between a 
memoir and autobiography.
But I enjoy biographies and autobiographies.
So all your stories are true.
CNF must not be first person.
Since it was third person, I wasn't sure if you were the Bridget in the 
story or whether it was something imagined you were doing.
That is an interesting genre form.  I think I read one short story by
Annie 
Dillard; I should read more by her and the authors you referenced.

Ashley