Creative Nonfiction

An Exploration of Contemporary American Literature

"We tell ourselves stories in order to live." -- Joan Didion

Writers write, but what do they write these days? Books? Stories? Poems? or Blogs?
Fiction? Nonfiction? Both? Contemporary writers sometimes blur the line between
fiction and reality and combine traditional forms for a fresh way of reflecting on life.

Writers of creative nonfiction use standard elements of fiction to write about real
life events. The subgenres in creative nonfiction include personal essay, memoir,
travel/place essays, literary journalism (expanding on topics in news), and more.

Since ninth grade, you have probably read more creative nonfiction than you realize.
Remember reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote in 10th grade? In Unit Six, you
read excerpts from Hersey's A Noiseless Flash, Michael Herr's Dispatches, and
O'Brien's The Things They Carried. Each reads as if it is fiction, with vivid setting,
character details, imagery and figurative language. The authors arrange details to
keep their readers' attention, like a gripping plot would do. But the source of all of
these works is real life.

In addition to those works listed above, we will read others as models of essays that
you can write. Your fourth quarter essay will be creative nonfiction. Because
you are not expected to conduct extensive research for your essay, your choices for
type of essay are limited to memoir(which may include interviewing family or
friends), personal essay (which may require a bit of fact checking),
and travel/place essay (which also might require a bit of minor research). See
more on each type below.

Assignments

1. Web quest with a partner. Use the starred sites Please open, save in
your H:/ drive, complete the assignment, then save in G:/ rive folder as
indicated.

2. Complete an analysis form for any two essays of your choosing. See the list
below.

3. Write a creative nonfiction essay and publish it in a class anthology. Your

essay should be no shorter than 500 words. It should employ typical
elements of fiction: setting, character, imagery, figurative language, theme,
etc. to tell a true story or relate a true event.
 Read more about creative nonfiction:

Chip Scanlon, from the prestigious Poynter Institute, describes

what Creative Nonfiction, sometimes called the fourth genre, is all
about.

From Bruce Dobler, includes a great definition.

From Phil Drucker from the University of Idaho

On Creative nonfiction by Caroline Abels, Post-Gazette Cultural Arts

Writer

More from writer Susan Taylor Brown

Writing your own essay

Memoir

What is memoir?

From the University Writing Center (University of Central Florida)

From Read/Write/Think

From Writer's Helper

From Chip Scanlon

Models (*we will read):

*Russell Baker's "Make Something of Yourself," an excerpt from Growing Up

Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes

Tobias Wolff, This Boy's Life

Personal essay

What is a personal essay?

From The Guide to Grammar and Writing

A superb guide from Dr. Richard Nordquist at Armstrong Atlantic State

 University

Models (*we will read):

*"You Are Now Entering the Human Heart" by Janet Frame

Travel/Place essay

What is a travel/place essay?

From Ms Hogue

Dr. Richard Nordquist at Armstrong Atlantic State University (some

good advice in spite of the flashing gifs!)

Models (*we will read):

*"Wild Plums," from Ted Kooser's Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian
Alps

from Blue HIghways, by William Least Heat Moon (in your red lit book)

Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek and An American Childhood

How to & Requirements

Topic
Choose a topic that you know something about, a lot about, in fact. The topic
should be relevant to everyone, and not simply to you. Topics are wide ranging, but
remember, your audience is your class. Choose a topic that is appropriate for school
and your audience.

Theme
Think about your topic. Why are you really writing about it? What do you want your
readers to know about life, about people, about relationships, about love, death,
joy, sorrow, humor, or anything else? These themes are only a few. Your revelation
about life can be small and simple or big and profound. Either way, what you reveal
should be universally true. That is, what you reveal about life is probably true for all
people.

Introduction/Lead
Begin your essay in a way that gets your readers wanting more. Write a good lead.
Leads that feature description, an event/conflict, imagery, or even an engaging
dialog are interesting.

Body
No matter what type of essay you write, you will be telling some kind of story. While
you are not writing a five paragraph essay, you should be writing in paragraphs.
Some may be long; some may be short. Avoid digression. You may have characters
in action (something is happening). Always keep your purpose in mind.

Conclusion/Ending
You won't be writing a standard summary conclusion. The purpose of your
conclusion or ending is to make your essay feel finished. But even more than that, it
should create a lasting impression on the reader. Look at the models of the essays
we read in class. How did those authors conclude their stories?

Voice

Voice is an important aspect of creative nonfiction. The ethos of the writer

is important.

You may use a mixture of first and third person, or either. The combination
is a common narrative technique. Look for it in the works we read.

What style and tone are you using? Personal essays have an informal style.
It could be so informal as to use slang here and there, especially in dialog.
Will the narrative voice be casual and easy-going, humorous, or more
serious.

Organization

Organize the details in a logical order to keep your readers' attention and to
best tell the story.

Use paragraphs!

Use transitions, but not formal transitions that sound stuffy, like "therefore,"
"whereas," or "on the other hand."

Other literary elements

Dialog should be natural and should advance the story. Don't use it if you
don't need it.

Use inventive metaphors to get readers to see ideas in a new way.

Use concrete details and descriptions of people, places and things

Your essay should be no shorter than 500 words, typed, use 12 point Times New
Roman, and double space. Use block style for paragraphing. (Standardized for the
anthology) Your essay needs a title. Your name and the date should go at the end.
See the format sample.
 List of essays in Unit Six for the analysis form:

A Noiseless Flash, Hersey

Speaking of Courage, O'Brien

from Dispatches, Herr

Make Something of Yourself, an excerpt from Growing Up by Russell Baker

You Are Now Entering the Human Heart by Janet Frame

Wild Plums, from Ted Kooser's Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian
Alps

Print analysis form.

Want to read more creative nonfiction?

Tom Montag's Blog, The Middlewesterner

Listen to This American Life on the radio or through Podcasts.