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Writing Creative Nonfiction
Experience the power and the promise of working in today' most exciting literary form: Creative Nonfiction"Writing Creative Nonfiction" presents more than thirty essays examining every key element of the craft, from researching ideas and structuring the story, to reportage and personal reflection. You'll learn from some of today's top creative nonfiction writers, including:
Terry Tempest Williams - Analyze your motivation for writing, its value, and its strength.
Alan Cheuse - Discover how interesting, compelling essays can be drawn from every corner of your life and the world in which you live.
Phillip Lopate - Build your narrator–yourself–into a fully fleshed-out character, giving your readers a clearer, more compelling idea of who is speaking and why they should listen.
Robin Hemley - Develop a narrative strategy for structuring your story and making it cohesive.
Carolyn Forche - Master the journalistic ethics of creative nonfiction.
Dinty W. Moore - Use satire, exaggeration, juxtaposition, and other forms of humor in creative nonfiction.
Philip Gerard - Understand the narrative stance–why and how an author should, or should not, enter into the story.
Through insightful prompts and exercises, these contributors help make the challenge of writing creative nonfiction–whether biography, true-life adventure, memoir, or narrative history–a welcome, rewarding endeavor.
You'll also find an exciting, creative nonfiction "reader" comprising the final third of the book, featuring pieces from Barry Lopez, Annie Dillard, Beverly Lowry, Phillip Lopate, and more–selections so extraordinary, they will teach, delight, inspire, and entertain you for years to come!
Terry Tempest Williams - Analyze your motivation for writing, its value, and its strength.
Alan Cheuse - Discover how interesting, compelling essays can be drawn from every corner of your life and the world in which you live.
Phillip Lopate - Build your narrator–yourself–into a fully fleshed-out character, giving your readers a clearer, more compelling idea of who is speaking and why they should listen.
Robin Hemley - Develop a narrative strategy for structuring your story and making it cohesive.
Carolyn Forche - Master the journalistic ethics of creative nonfiction.
Dinty W. Moore - Use satire, exaggeration, juxtaposition, and other forms of humor in creative nonfiction.
Philip Gerard - Understand the narrative stance–why and how an author should, or should not, enter into the story.
Through insightful prompts and exercises, these contributors help make the challenge of writing creative nonfiction–whether biography, true-life adventure, memoir, or narrative history–a welcome, rewarding endeavor.
You'll also find an exciting, creative nonfiction "reader" comprising the final third of the book, featuring pieces from Barry Lopez, Annie Dillard, Beverly Lowry, Phillip Lopate, and more–selections so extraordinary, they will teach, delight, inspire, and entertain you for years to come!
384 pages, Paperback
First published April 18, 2001
About the author
Philip Gerard
35 books15 followersPhilip Gerard is the author of 13 books, including The Last Battleground: The Civil War Comes to North Carolina. Gerard was the author of Our State's Civil War series. He currently teaches in the department of creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 18, 2018
I think why and how you read this book are going to be key to getting the most out of it. It's a textbook, not a nonfiction reader. If you're not looking to learn about writing nonfiction, then this isn't the book for you; check out the current edition of Best American Essays instead. Also, this is a survey book. It includes information on writing memoir, biography, shorter essays and longer works. If you want more information on writing something specific, like biography, then you can follow this with another book for more detail. What I found most helpful about this book was the quality of the writing instruction in the introductory essays, the suggested exercises, and how many of the craft essays were followed by pieces in the reader section by the authors that illustrated the practice of what they'd written about in theory. I read this book over a few months, going through each craft essay, then to the reader section for the example essay by the craft author, if there was one. While I found most of the craft essays helpful, I did not get as much out of some of the essays in the reader.
April 8, 2011
It took me longer than I’d hoped, but I finally finished the lengthy Writing Creative Nonfiction collection. The book is divided into two sections: essays dedicated to the craft of writing, and examples of essays and short stories written by authors who personify these skills. The mix of inspiration and instruction make this a good resource for new MFA students (like myself).
It was fascinating to see Brenda Miller’s take on the braided essay in A Braided Heart: Shaping the Lyric Essay. In it she delves into the two forms I was unfamiliar with before entering the program—braided and lyric. Reading her essay, I felt like one of her writing students, watching with trepidation as she brought the challah out on the table. By writing the instructional essay in braided form, moving through examples of how it works and explanations to why she loves it (all knit around the metaphorical braided bread), you are able to get a strong sense of why and how this works. At the beginning she notes, “As a child, I knew only that braided bread simply tasted better than ordinary bread, the way texture will often affect flavor, the way presentation and form can sometimes offer sustenance in itself” (Miller 15). The style allows writers to segment their stories and experiences with ribbons of detail that would be lost in traditional, linear styles. In the braided essay, Miller is able to work in everything from her teaching experiences to a recipe for challah. As she states, “Sometimes your peripheral vision catches the most important details” (Miller 18). One of her actual braided essays appears in the second half of the book, titled Basha Leah. The story weaves together her memories of growing up Jewish alongside a trip to Catholic South America. The details, triggered along in a trail of sudden glimpses, show us her interpretation of her own spirituality through the peripheral.
I found Laura Wexler’s Saying Goodbye to “Once Upon a Time,” or Implementing Postmodernism in Creative Nonfiction particularly interesting in its similarities to one of the June residency’s craft talks. Wexler describes her experience attempting to gather information and write about a mid-20th century lynching incident, in a starkly similar vein as Jennifer Miller. Wexler accepts that she is never going to know the “true story” by indisputable, hard fact. Her take is that this does not exist. Each witness has their own memory and take, and she notes that “The bedrock principle of postmodernism is subjectivity, the idea that the world looks different depending on where you stand” (Wexler 26). In the postmodern spirit, she argues that this ambulation of the facts should not discourage writers from tackling the subjects. It just presents a new challenge to the writer, one that involves gathering a wide variety of interpretations and opinions and then sorting them out using one’s own life experiences and intuitions to arrive at a final truth or conclusion. “The stories in whith truth seems to purposely hide in the shadows—can be written as nonfiction by focusing as much on interpretation as event. In fact, it is these very stories that most need to be written as nonfiction” (Wexler 29). Hidden, sparse stories, such as Jennifer Miller’s lynching research and Eric Schmidt’s research on a German WWII pilot, are just such stories. Facts and citations are sparse. The memories live on in shadows—dying memories, family tales, hidden secrets. For an author to uncover, reveal and ponder over these, taking the reader into the search, what could be more exciting? Certainly not textbook facts.
A few of the essays, particularly those focusing on preparing for traveling into war zones and exotic tropical countries, were slightly less applicable to me. I know that life is an unpredictable journey, but unless there is some extreme upheaval in my relationship, living and professional situations, I don’t see myself ever needing a malaria shot to research my writing. Still, it’s good to know that others are making these journeys, and it makes Writing Creative Nonfiction a very well-rounded manual for nonfiction writers of all kinds. I would recommend its place on any of our bookshelves, and I think I’ll find myself referring back to it often.
It was fascinating to see Brenda Miller’s take on the braided essay in A Braided Heart: Shaping the Lyric Essay. In it she delves into the two forms I was unfamiliar with before entering the program—braided and lyric. Reading her essay, I felt like one of her writing students, watching with trepidation as she brought the challah out on the table. By writing the instructional essay in braided form, moving through examples of how it works and explanations to why she loves it (all knit around the metaphorical braided bread), you are able to get a strong sense of why and how this works. At the beginning she notes, “As a child, I knew only that braided bread simply tasted better than ordinary bread, the way texture will often affect flavor, the way presentation and form can sometimes offer sustenance in itself” (Miller 15). The style allows writers to segment their stories and experiences with ribbons of detail that would be lost in traditional, linear styles. In the braided essay, Miller is able to work in everything from her teaching experiences to a recipe for challah. As she states, “Sometimes your peripheral vision catches the most important details” (Miller 18). One of her actual braided essays appears in the second half of the book, titled Basha Leah. The story weaves together her memories of growing up Jewish alongside a trip to Catholic South America. The details, triggered along in a trail of sudden glimpses, show us her interpretation of her own spirituality through the peripheral.
I found Laura Wexler’s Saying Goodbye to “Once Upon a Time,” or Implementing Postmodernism in Creative Nonfiction particularly interesting in its similarities to one of the June residency’s craft talks. Wexler describes her experience attempting to gather information and write about a mid-20th century lynching incident, in a starkly similar vein as Jennifer Miller. Wexler accepts that she is never going to know the “true story” by indisputable, hard fact. Her take is that this does not exist. Each witness has their own memory and take, and she notes that “The bedrock principle of postmodernism is subjectivity, the idea that the world looks different depending on where you stand” (Wexler 26). In the postmodern spirit, she argues that this ambulation of the facts should not discourage writers from tackling the subjects. It just presents a new challenge to the writer, one that involves gathering a wide variety of interpretations and opinions and then sorting them out using one’s own life experiences and intuitions to arrive at a final truth or conclusion. “The stories in whith truth seems to purposely hide in the shadows—can be written as nonfiction by focusing as much on interpretation as event. In fact, it is these very stories that most need to be written as nonfiction” (Wexler 29). Hidden, sparse stories, such as Jennifer Miller’s lynching research and Eric Schmidt’s research on a German WWII pilot, are just such stories. Facts and citations are sparse. The memories live on in shadows—dying memories, family tales, hidden secrets. For an author to uncover, reveal and ponder over these, taking the reader into the search, what could be more exciting? Certainly not textbook facts.
A few of the essays, particularly those focusing on preparing for traveling into war zones and exotic tropical countries, were slightly less applicable to me. I know that life is an unpredictable journey, but unless there is some extreme upheaval in my relationship, living and professional situations, I don’t see myself ever needing a malaria shot to research my writing. Still, it’s good to know that others are making these journeys, and it makes Writing Creative Nonfiction a very well-rounded manual for nonfiction writers of all kinds. I would recommend its place on any of our bookshelves, and I think I’ll find myself referring back to it often.
April 10, 2018
book started awfully. terribly slow pace, and the feeling like she was teaching fifth graders. if i wasn't able to speed up to 1.25x, i probably would have quit very early on. i also probably would have gotten fed up with such a basic treatment if this wasn't mostly all new material to me. author's stumbles reveal she is reading from a script. her inflection patterns are repetitious, and she has this annoying habit of ending her sentences with "isn't it?" or "don't you?" much too often. i did learn a good deal in the end, but i really had to push through it.
May 16, 2017
This book was very helpful - the essays contained a lot of food for thought on writing. It also included examples of essays that were really interesting. It took a long while to get through, but it isn't the kind of book that you just sit down and read. It lends itself to dipping into it, setting it aside and then coming back to it.
June 29, 2017
From one of the essays:
"I write knowing words always fall short. I write knowing I can be killed by my own words, stabbed by syntax, crucified by both understanding and misunderstanding." -Terry Tempest Williams.
"I write knowing words always fall short. I write knowing I can be killed by my own words, stabbed by syntax, crucified by both understanding and misunderstanding." -Terry Tempest Williams.
January 6, 2017
Only read the first few chapters. The book wasn't for me. If you are into essays from different authors then this is a good book for you.
February 5, 2019
This was not an easily digested book. SO many accomplished writers had so much perspective to offer on everything about the genre. I definitely will consult this book for years to come.
April 20, 2022
This book is inspiring. It helps people who are trying to write creative nonfiction by providing multiple creative and concrete ideas for how to proceed on this new journey.
May 21, 2023
Helpful primer to the early years of the genre, especially as it was taught in academia.
September 29, 2023
A fabulous resource.
February 21, 2013
I contend the book brought a sense of psychological experience as opposed to reality. The conflict in the auhtor's minds (in most of the pieces) reflected a perception of reality instead of reality itself. This book's reading reflect this concept. One author even wrote a piece describing his own body--I strongly recommend not reading that particular piece thought. Too much detail.
Throughout the book, I found some ideas to be brash, controversial, and gratuitious at times. However, some of the other authors had excellent ideas about portraying perception amd making non-fiction writing a feasible, enjoyable pursuit.
I strongly recommend reading the section on biography writing. The author's that deal with that subject give the good insight of how to and how not to write a biography.
Throughout the book, I found some ideas to be brash, controversial, and gratuitious at times. However, some of the other authors had excellent ideas about portraying perception amd making non-fiction writing a feasible, enjoyable pursuit.
I strongly recommend reading the section on biography writing. The author's that deal with that subject give the good insight of how to and how not to write a biography.
March 12, 2008
This book may not be 100% comprehensive (a tad redundant, perhaps), but if there is any other one out there that has more to offer on addressing the varieties of style, structure, form and the creative nonfiction process, I haven't seen it. Being new to the business in 2003 when I began working on Waiting for Westmoreland in earnest, I found the instuctions and insights illuminating, inspiring and confusing all at once. How to choose?! I felt like Alice on her journey after the rabbit. Still, it gave me plenty of techniques to consider--that would not have been as readily discernible had I simply tried to read every book of actual creative nonfiction I could get my hands on.
October 8, 2014
Half how-to essays and half anthology of creative nonfiction, this had some worthy material in it, even though I don't aspire to the exact sort of creative nonfiction the writers had in mind. I found Phillip Lopate's "Writing Personal Essays: on the Necessity of Turning Yourself into a Character" particulatly helpful, as was the insight of "The Loneliness of the Long-distance Writer" by Robin Hemley (I will be watchful for the 100-page hump in the future). I enjoyed Annie Dillard's "Flying in the Middle of Art" and Lee Gutkind's "Becoming the Godfather of Creative Nonfiction" is very informative about the growth of the art, but I really don't have time to read the rest of the chapters.
March 10, 2012
With essays the likes of "On the Necessity of Turning Oneself Into a Character", "Researching Your Own Life", and "Taking Yourself Out of the Story", this is a good read if you're at all interested in writing about your life. The essays are are also followed by exercises.
August 9, 2007
Good. Essays by a dozen different writers. Also exercises.
March 1, 2008
my-books
August 28, 2008
I only read the essays on topics that interest me so can't review the whole book...it's a big enough collection to sift through for what you need. Well-edited, relevant, strong contributors.
May 31, 2009
Some of the craft essays were useful, but overall the extreme emphasis on socal/political essays rendered the book largely irrelevant to the kind of work I prefer to read and write.
June 20, 2010
This anthology has a good mix of practical essays, like the one about legal matters particular to nonfiction writers, and artsy creative pieces. Represents the genre pretty well.
January 26, 2012
I couldn't really get into it--I read the Gutkind essay and skimmed the rest--mainly because I just have too much stuff to read right now and this was due back to the library.
July 12, 2014
Interesting anthology of creative nonfiction; added to my library.
June 19, 2013
Learned way more than I thought I would. Now... finding time to apply?
October 21, 2017
Interesting examples. Good instruction.
July 24, 2017
Finally finished. Enjoyed the exercises. Easy reading. Worthwhile for any non fiction writer. I do not know enough about writing to be able to give a more well thought out critique.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews