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Creative Nonfiction

Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life

Philip Gerard

$15.95 list, 216 pages

10-digit ISBN: 1-57766-339-X

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57766-339-3

© 1996

“Philip Gerard is the best kind of writing coach—he doesn’t ask students to do anything he hasn’t done. And when it comes to writing, he’s done it all. In Creative Nonfiction he takes students through each step in the writing process, from initial concept to a polished, publishable piece. He arms writers with all the tools necessary for getting the facts and telling a good story. His book is the first one to demystify this “hot” new genre.” — Catherine Houser, University of Massachusetts—Dartmouth

“Creative Nonfiction presents a practical balance of fictional and journalistic techniques, approaches to style and subject, and discussion of professional ethics. As a textbook, it’s that rarity teachers hope for: concise, while managing an engagingly informal style. It’s a confidence builder for students or novices at the form and a handy reference and review for the working writer.” — Art Homer, University of Nebraska—Omaha

“I can speak of Creative Nonfiction only in superlatives. It is by far the best text I’ve ever used for any class. Specific, human, clear, it illustrates on every page the principles Gerard articulates. I’m impressed, even moved, by its profound moral core. How he enunciates such clear and sincere concern for ethics without sounding in the least preachy is in itself a minor miracle.” — Sally Buckner, Peace College

“Philip Gerard takes writers on a lively journey through the newest frontier in creative writing. Combining practical advice with real-life stories, journalistic truth with creative art, this important book conveys both the theory and practice of creative nonfiction.” — Diane Dreher, Santa Clara University

“Creative Nonfiction is highly practical. It gives students a real sense of what it would be like to try to earn a living as a nonfiction writer. Gerard draws on an astonishing breadth of experience, from his own work and from the wide variety of writers he’s interviewed for the book. His suggestions about short radio commentaries have opened up a new genre for my students.” — Virginia A. Chappell, Marquette University

Table of Contents

1. What Is Creative Nonfiction Anyhow?

The Renaissance in Nonfiction: A Hunger for the Real / Telling Stories, Telling Lies / You Can’t Make It Up / Five Hallmarks / The Art Lies in the Craft

2. Finding an Original Subject

Wanted: An Accurate Sense of the World /Refining the Subject /Find the Human Story /Find Your Passion /Discovering Your Subject in Who You Are /The Subject is a Question That Matters /Metaphorical Connections /Your Promise to the Reader

3. Researching

Archival and Living Research /Adventures in Cyberspace / Libraries and Librarians, Special Collections and Museums / Archives We Don’t Think of as Archives / Maps Tell Stories, Too / Walking the Ground / Writing in the Borderlands / There’s No Substitute for Being There

4. The Art of the Interview

Real People, Real Voices / Pre-Interview Anxiety / A Typical Interview / Asking Good Questions—And Listening to the Answers / Other Kinds of Interviews / Intimacy and Attitude / The Human Factor / The Relationship Between Interviewer and Subject / Who Sees the Interview Before Publication? / The Tape Recorder

5. On Assignment

Time-Travel: Chasing Familiar Ghosts / A Stranger Comes to Town / Making the Experience Work in Time and Space / Coming Up With an Assignment / On Your Own Hook / Exploring Your Own Backyard / Attitude—Listening to the Story / The Last Thing

6. What Form Will It Take?

The Long Form / But What’s It About? / The Short Form / Your Approach—Documentary or Personal? / Genres Within the Short Form / The Not-So-Simple Answer / Betwixt and Between: Too Long, But Not Long Enough / Writing Out Loud—A New Genre

7. Telling a True Story: Using the Techniques of Fiction

Point of View: Who’s Telling the Story? / Real People Are Characters, Too / Dialogue / You Can’t Make It Up—Or Can You? / Beginnings and Endings / Conflict and Plot / Suspense / Emotion and Style / Scene and Summary or Show, Don’t Tell / Consequences—What’s at Stake? / Voice

8. Putting Yourself on the Line: Autobiography, Memoir, and Personal Essay

The Freedom of Your Own Voice / The Seductive Ego / Credibility vs. Narrowness of Vision / Memory Begets Memory / The Crystal Cave of Memory / The Confidence of Family and Friends / Emotional Cost

9. Mystery and Structure, Style and Attitude

Time / Lincoln at Gettysburg / Mystery / Outlining: Literary Engineering / Common Structural Templates / Attitude and the Accident of Style

10. Revising—With and Without an Editor

The Writer-Editor Dialogue / The Large View / Techniques for Revising: Internal Logic / The Sentence / Elements of Style: Detailing the Prose / Cutting / What is Nonnegotiable?

11. Law and Ethics

The Law: Libel / The Law: Privacy / On the Record or Off? / Ethics: When is Nonfiction Fictitious? / Ethics: Accuracy of Fact and Language / Biography—The Ghost in the Room /The Writing Life

A Selected Reading List for Writers