Intro to Creative Non-Fiction Writing

Ms Davis Hanna
Jul 27, 2017 · 3 min read

What is Creative Non-Fiction?

Lee Gutkind, who is a famous CNF writer and editor, defines Creative Non-Fiction as “true stories well told.”

“Creative” means that the essays and books are crafted using literary techniques. Images, suspense, dialogue, concrete details, scenes, characterization — sometimes even symbols and figurative language — are all employed to make the stories compelling.

“Non-fiction” (sometimes this is written as one word — “nonfiction”) means that the stories are always true.

Personal or Reported: There are two broad categories for CNF: “personal” means writing about your own experiences and/or views and “reported” means writing about someone else’s.

An example of “reported” CNF is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (title is a link); another is The Devil in the White City (title is a link).

Book cover for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Types of Personal Essays

Personal narrative: The most common type of CNF essay. These are personal stories, written about experiences the author had. To a reader, they will seem similar to a short story written in first-person.

Picture of a home damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Photo under Creative Commons license.

Personal account: This is sometimes very similar to a personal narrative. What sets apart personal accounts is that the author is writing about their experience with a socially or historically significant event or topic. For example, if an author experienced Hurricane Katrina, or had an experience with a famous person, their narrative essay about that experience would be a personal account.

Compiled / Compilation: Sometimes, authors of personal essays compile events into a single essay. For instance, you might write a compilation personal essay about your three experiences going to the principal’s office: one in kindergarten, once in middle school, and once in high school. (If these experiences were important, impacted your life, or demonstrated changes in you over time).

Topical examination: This is a personal essay (still written about the author’s own experiences or viewpoints) on a topic of interest. It might involve something like a brief narrative of a trip to the hospital followed by research or accounts regarding healthcare in our country. While there may be narrative elements in some places in this essay, the topical examination is not a story. Topical examinations usually require academic research in combination with the musings of the author.

Remembrance: This is a different kind of personal narrative — sometimes similar to a compilation. It is written to honor or recognize someone else, but written from the author’s perspective.

Multi-type personal essay: Because the genre encourages creativity, authors often combine essay types within a single piece. For example “I’m An Adjunct Who Also Works in a Grocery Store” (title is a link) is both a personal account of the author’s experience working as a part-time professor, but it also examines the larger issue of university hiring practices nation-wide. It does not easily fit into any single type of personal essay.

Ms Davis Hanna

Written by

community college english teacher | reader | writer | also: wife, mom, aunt, dog person, pun enthusiast, sarcasm expert, smoothie queen.

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