Creative Writing: Nonfiction

Catalog description

A workshop in Creative Nonfiction (aka Literary Nonfiction or Narrative Nonfiction, abbreviated CNF) in which students will write and read different forms of memoir and essay, including Personal Essay, Lyric Essay, Travel Writing, Oral History, and Personal Profiles. Creative Nonfiction (CNF) tells true stories using the literary techniques of fiction-writing, such as building dramatic scenes, establishing suspense, and developing a narrative sequence of events, or plot. CNF employs vivid sensory detail and builds characters and scenes to enhance the reader’s experience of the story. Challenging the traditional journalist’s stance of objectivity and emotional distance from her topics, CNF writers often put themselves into their stories to create a voice of reflection. We’ll talk about what types of creative license CNF gives writers, and also about the ethics of storytelling, especially when your story’s characters are real, living people.