About Creative Nonfiction

 

Lee Gutkind is the founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction magazine. He also wrote a book titled You Can't Make This Stuff Up, which is a guide to writing creative nonfiction. 

Mr. Gutkind gives a simple definition of creative nonfiction. He says it is 'true stories, well told.' He uses this explanation on the banner of his magazine. 

There's a little more to it than that, however. We hear and read the term 'creative nonfiction,' but does everyone know a definition that has more depth than the one on Mr. Gutkind's magazine banner? 

Creative nonfiction is a true story told using fiction techniques. Nonfiction, of course, tells us that the story is true. The 'creative' part of the term might lead people to believe the story is made up, which totally contradicts the nonfiction part. Think of the 'creative' part as using fiction storytelling techniques rather than writing a piece of nonfiction that does nothing but give the facts. 

Some examples of creative nonfiction are memoirs, personal essays, and feature length articles in magazines. Fiction writing tools like dialogue, scene setting, characterization, vivid descriptions and more are used to relate a true story. 

Nonfiction that dwells on facts alone is fine in some instances, but switching to using the same facts but in a more creative way, writing using fiction methods, offers a more interesting read. Speaking personally, creative nonfiction is more satisfying to me the writer. A scientist might prefer to write pure nonfiction with facts, experiments, and statistics. Other writers would probably prefer adding those fiction tools to make the piece of greater interest. A memoir with nothing but the facts of what happened in the author's life probably would not appeal to editors or to readers. Using fiction methods makes the true story more realistic and something more easily related to for the reader. 

If you have a little extra time this weekend, use a search engine to find articles on 'writing creative nonfiction' or stop by your library to check for books on the same. Or, purchase one at your favorite online bookseller. You might discover you've been writing creative nonfiction, but you weren't aware that your writing fit this category.