Creative Nonfiction and the Personal Essay
The difference between fiction and nonfiction is clear — fiction is made up and nonfiction is factual.
The line that separates nondescript nonfiction from creative nonfiction is a bit more blurry. In short, creative nonfiction harnesses the power of literary language as a means to captivate readers.
One of the most popular forms of creative nonfiction is the personal essay. In fact, personal essays are the basis of many popular blogs and often evolve into memoirs and other longer works.
How does the personal essay fit into the realm of creative nonfiction? What is it about a well-written personal essay that captivates readers? What topics are fair game for a personal essay? And why are personal essays an important part of published literature?
Creative Nonfiction
What separates creative nonfiction from other types of nonfiction (such as technical, scientific, or legal writing) is that it is designed for enjoyable readability.
Creative nonfiction borrows heavily from poetry and literary fiction, which feature language mastery. A writer must use clever turns of phrase, make intelligent and creative word choices, and build sentences, paragraphs – an entire piece – that does more than present the straight, nonfiction facts.
Successful works in this genre are highly engaging and entertaining to read.
The Personal Essay
The word “essay” comes from the French verb “essayer,” which means to try. Early essays were attempts at communicating thoughts or ideas about a particular subject. In time, the essay became a staple for writers and students.
The personal essay is a short, descriptive account of one’s ideas or experiences. As nonfiction, it is factual. And as creative nonfiction, the personal essay should be written to be engaging.
What makes personal essays so attractive is that they’re wide open. There are no rules to follow or structure to which we must adhere. You simply write your ideas, and since they’re yours, you can put all the focus on making the language interesting.
We might regard a blog as a series of personal essays, particularly when the blog is an account of someone’s personal experience. Some of the material that makes its way into journals and diaries are also personal essays.
The free form of the personal essay gives writers much berth to be creative. In some cases, a personal essay may grow into a memoir or autobiography.
Exploring Creative Nonfiction Through the Personal Essay
Because the personal essay is so easy to tackle and is void of rules, it’s one of the most accessible forms of writing, and probably the single best way for any writer to delve into creative nonfiction.
How do you write a personal essay? You just sit down and start writing. You can write about an event in your life. You can write about your goals and dreams. You can write about your past, the present, or your future.
As long as you keep on writing.
Have you experimented with the personal essay? Have you tried writing other types of creative nonfiction? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.
