{"id":52,"date":"2020-06-11T21:12:03","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T21:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/buildingblocks\/chapter\/creative-nonfiction\/"},"modified":"2020-06-11T21:12:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T21:12:03","slug":"creative-nonfiction","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/buildingblocks\/chapter\/creative-nonfiction\/","title":{"raw":"6.3 Creative Nonfiction","rendered":"6.3 Creative Nonfiction"},"content":{"raw":"\nThere is lots of creative writing that, unlike a short story, contains factual elements. I may write about \u201cCarellin Brooks,\u201d who has had the same past experiences as me and lives the same kind of life today. However, \u201cCarellin Brooks\u201d is a construct. I am writing about her, so she is a character, even though she shares my name and life.\n\nIn creative nonfiction, the lines between reality and what you make up can get quite blurry. That is because, however much we set out to write the exact truth, it still needs shaping into a narrative if anyone is going to be interested in reading it.\n\nYou will already know this if you have ever listened to people speaking and written down exactly what they say. Unlike in stories, plays, or other forms of writing, people\u2019s speech is littered with phrases like \u201cum,\u201d \u201cyou know,\u201d and \u201cwell, ah.\u201d Sentences trail off halfway instead of finishing: \u201cWell, then, I guess we\u2019ll just, um, yeah. That makes sense.\u201d It actually does make sense, in the context of the conversation, but if we accurately recorded such dialogue, either we, or the characters we wrote about, would sound like idiots.\n\nIn creative nonfiction, you\u2019re also usually setting out to make a point. Your blog post about the latest great book you read is not going to spend time describing what you had for breakfast (unless it\u2019s a cookbook). Instead, you\u2019ll select and order your details to build toward the point you\u2019re making. You could describe all the books you\u2019ve read lately that haven\u2019t been great, for example, and all the things you did to avoid reading them because you were bored, exaggerating for comic effect, perhaps, to emphasize that you couldn\u2019t put this particular book down for even a minute.\n\n\n\n
Table 6.3 Dos and don'ts of creative nonfiction<\/caption>\n
Things to always do<\/th>\nThings to never do<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
    \n \t
  • Talk about your specific point of view.<\/li>\n \t
  • Include relevant examples from your own experience.<\/li>\n \t
  • Describe experiences using the five senses.<\/li>\n \t
  • Order your experiences to reinforce the sense of story and make your point stronger.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n