I’m attracted to creative non-fiction because it allows me to write about subjects normally found in books written by academics with letters after their name. My writing often touches on historical events or the way life was in the past. It’s a lived experience, why not write about it?
Adding the personal touch moves the story away from something that looks like writing from a text book. The writing becomes a personal account, with real-life history as the backdrop. The events and the people involved are real. The emotions and experiences come from life as it was lived.
At its heart, creative non-fiction writing is about telling true stories using the techniques of good storytelling. But the writer looks to shape the story with care, using a narrative structure to make the story engaging and meaningful for the reader.
It can be one of the most personal forms of writing.
Unlike fiction, where characters and situations are typically invented, creative non-fiction requires the writer to work with reality. Memory becomes an important source of material, as do personal observations. Everyday experiences, and the moments that may have seemed insignificant at the time, can reveal something deeper when revisited.
There is something to be said for the quality of how ordinary life can be. Putting it into words in a story that means something is the difficult bit. It could be anything. A walk through an unfamiliar neighbourhood, a childhood memory, or even a conversation overheard on the bus. All of these might seem ordinary at the time but can become the foundation of a piece of creative non-fiction.
One story can, and I find frequently does, lead to another. They are stories within stories. It is essential that good creative non-fiction does more than simply recount events.
When I was at school, writing about historical events was presented in order, one after another. I think it was called ‘learning by rota’. It refers to a type of learning through repetition and often involves memorisation of dates and facts.
