Guidelines for Writing Creative Nonfiction

 Guidelines for Writing Creative Nonfiction
  • Not only must the aspiring writer of creative nonfiction learn the techniques, but he/she also requires a good understanding of the guidelines. The following are 12 guidelines for writing any type of creative nonfiction:
  •  Research the topic. Both primary (interview, personal experience, or participant observation) and secondary research (books, magazines, newspaper, Web)
  • Never invent or change facts.  An invented story is fiction.
  • Provide accurate information. Write honestly and truthfully. Information should be verifiable.
  • Provide concrete evidence. Use facts, examples, and quotations.
  • Use humor to make an important point.
  •  Show the reader what happened, don’t tell them what happened. To do this, dramatize the story.
  •  Narrate the story. A story has an inciting incident, goal, conflict, challenges, obstacles, climax, and resolution.
  • Write about the interesting and extraordinary. Write about personal experiences, interesting people, extraordinary events, or provide a unique perspective on everyday life.
  • Organize the information. Two common techniques are chronological or logical order.
  • Use literary devices to tell the story. Choose language that stimulates and entertains the reader, such as simile, metaphor, imagery.
  • Introduce the essay or other work with a hook. Its purpose is to grab the readers’ attention and compel them to reader further. Popular hooks include a quotation, question, or thought-provoking fact.

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