Nonfiction means “true”, based on fact.
In recent years, teachers of writing have come up with a new title to describe a certain type of writing. This is called “Creative Nonfiction.”
Creative Nonfiction
The following information comes from an excellent book written by a teacher of writing, Philip Gerard. The name of the book is Creative Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life.[1]
The name, Creative Nonfiction, is carefully chosen. As it says on the back cover of the book, “Nonfiction is in the facts. Creative nonfiction is in the telling. It goes far beyond reporting”. “Creative nonfiction reads like fiction, but stays loyal to the truth.”
Gerard describes the merits of good creative nonfiction as follows:
Creative
nonfiction . . . should tell a story accurately, deliver precise and crucial
information, persuade the reader, move him to insight, tell him something
important he doesn’t already know and make him understand how urgent it is that
he know it, capture his imagination in a way that is very nearly literal—and do
all of these things in a manner that adds up to a complete, whole, satisfying
experience.[2]
This is the type of writing that writers of nonfiction need to strive for.
Gerard asks a good question: “But what makes nonfiction creative?” Then he gives an answer by describing five characteristic of good creative nonfiction.
- “First, it has an apparent subject and a deeper subject. The apparent subject may be spectacular or mundane. Unlike a feature article, it is only part of what we are interested in.”
- “Second, and
partly because of the duality of subject, such nonfiction is released from
the usual journalistic requirement of timeliness: Long after the
apparent subject ceases to be topical, the deeper subject and the art that
expresses it remain vital.”
- “Third,
creative nonfiction is narrative, it always tells a good story. . . . It
takes advantage of such fictional devices as character, plot and dialogue.
. . . It is action oriented . . . and there is always a magic moment. Your
readers are waiting for that magic moment to occur, waiting for a change
to occur, a lightbulb to flash, something to happen.”
- “Fourth,
creative nonfiction contains a sense of reflection on the part of
the author. The underlying subject has been percolating through the
writer’s imagination for some time, waiting for the right outlet. It is finished
thought.”
- “Fifth, such
nonfiction shows serious attention to the craft of writing. It goes far
beyond the journalistic “inverted pyramid” style—with interesting turns of
phrase, fresh metaphors, lively and often scenic presentation, a shunning
of clichés and obvious endings, a sense of control over nuance, accurate
use of words, and a governing aesthetic sensibility.”
