What exactly is Creative Nonfiction?

For those familiar with literature, it is easy to identify two main genres, fiction and nonfiction. Fiction comprises works of imaginative narration while nonfiction encompasses the narrative style dealing with opinions or speculation of facts and reality. However, digging into the more specific genres, creative nonfiction is becoming more and more popular over time.

Also known as “literary journalism” or “new journalism,” the term creative nonfiction became “official” in 1983. While the name did not become “firm” until 1983 writers of the 1960’s and 70’s started to write in this context. They began to write true stories more stylistically as opposed to simply stating facts and reporting information. Throughout the years, there has been groundbreaking works of creative nonfiction including Truman Capote’s, In Cold Blood.

While different people have different ways and use different words to describe creative nonfiction it is easy to see they all express a similar definition. It is a genre of writing that uses literary approaches and techniques to express factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction is formed in a way which reads like fiction but communicates information. It uses the devices of fiction while preserving loyalty to the truth. Creative nonfiction is a technique used to get the reader interested and understanding the information provided by having “the author in the work.” It gives a personal incorporation of an account as well as reporting on the outside world. It is a way for the author to “liven up” information and ideas that are already present by making them more interesting.

After understanding what the genre consists of, it is easy to relate it to books previously read. In Herbert Asbury’s All Around the Town he demonstrates the style of creative nonfiction. Specifically, in “A Lady of Fashion” the reader becomes aware of the style of dress in the early 1900’s. The information is given in a vivid and dramatic way keeping the readers interested but at the same time expressing factual information. The same goes for John McPhee’s The Curve of Binding Energy. He writes with fictional techniques but provides nonfictional information such as Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and the background of uranium-235 and plutonium-239.

Other styles of writing such as creative writing and journalism may seem to be almost the same as creative nonfiction; however, there is a fine line that separates these genres. Creative writing gives the writer the ability to write freely, creating imaginative drama. Journalism, on the other hand, involves reporting and writing news by giving information straightforwardly and to the point. Creative nonfiction can be seen as a mixture of both these types of genres. It is the performance of writing nonfiction in an imaginative and striking approach. Creative nonfiction proposes flexibility and liberty while sticking to the guidelines of reporting, escaping the customary boundaries of narrative overall.

This underlying genre can also be found in the form of personal essays, memoirs, travel writing, food writing, biography, literary journalism, etc. Through these works it is easy to involve not only the reader but the writer as well. In the course of creative nonfiction writing, facts come alive through narration and setting. Well developed scenes are presented to give an interesting twist to actuality. Creative nonfiction differs from other genres in that the “I” is present either explicitly or implicitly. Writers of creative nonfiction do not make things up but rather personalize the information. Creative nonfiction “shows rather than tells.”