The appeal of writing creative non-fiction

My background and personal inclination have always led me along the creative non-fiction writing path while my reading preferences are more eclectic, although I do have a partiality for well-written historical fiction.

Creative non-fiction is the fastest growing genre in publishing today, but what is creative non-fiction? To put it simply: True stories, well-told. To broaden the definition, it can be described as ‘memory-or-fact-based writing... about and from a world that includes the author’s life and/or the author’s eye on the lives of other's. [Barrie Jean Borich, 2013] If there is some confusion about what comprises creative non-fiction it is because it has been labelled in many different ways and encompasses numerous sub-genres such as memoir, literary journalism, personal essays, nature and travel writing, journal writing and what are often today referred to as hybrid forms.

In this kind of writing, the author has the flexibility and freedom to use all the techniques of the fiction writer (scene, the development of character, dialogue and the suspense of plot), to present personal points of view and make social commentary, insert historical research, significant quotes, and in some cases braid various themes together. It is a form of writing I enjoy for the opportunity it provides to add historical and other forms of research—where relevant—to connect with my own memories and experiences and hopefully with those of prospective readers. At the moment, I’m experimenting with a hybrid form of memoir.

For those interested in writing in this genre, I suggest reading Lee Gutkind’s You Can’t

Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Non-fiction and

The Art of Creative Nonfiction, Writing and selling the Literature of Reality