Creative Non fiction Explained

An Author’s Perspective

What do you write? This is the first question I’m asked when I tell someone I’m a writer. sure, I can rattle off the titles of my books, but it goes deeper than that. Writing is part of my creative DNA, and within that realm my overarching genre is Creative Nonfiction. What’s that you ask?

Creative nonfiction is a form of writing that uses the creative techniques of literature to tell a true story. A CNF writer incorporates figurative language and storytelling elements such as dialog, character development, theme, pacing, plot, foreshadowing, setting, conflict and resolution. The goal is to communicate a bit of the real world in a way that will sing on the page, creating a piece of writing that will inform or change the reader, make an impact, bring a smile, a tear, or an ah-ha moment.

When I mentioned this to someone recently, she said that she’d attended a creative nonfiction writing group meeting that was all about trauma and self-indulgence. I get it, the genre can be trauma laden and many best selling titles lean this way. I tend to stick to the lighter side of life in my writing. I’ve found that you don’t have to have lived an extraordinary life or write about traumatic experiences to pull in an audience. I think within the CNF genre there’s a place for everyday experiences and honest emotions that connect us as humans, stories that people can relate to, or think about, or laugh along with. (Like transitioning out of a lifelong career, or experiencing a not-so-perfect vacation.)

So what do I write? The short answer is…I write true stories, well told.

Moments bloom into words.

Thanks for asking….( you can find my words here! )