Creative Nonfiction

This semester was the first time I was formally introduced to the genre of creative nonfiction. With that being said I can now reflect back on some of my favorite books from when I was younger and can now realize they are forms of creative nonfiction. For example, I loved to immerse myself in the stories of young girls throughout different periods of history. Without even realizing it I was learning about different time periods in American History, like The Revolutionary War, or The Great Depression, this was because I could relate to the stories of the girls my age that had lived through these events. Creative nonfiction can be defined as the use of literary elements when describing actual facts or events. To me creative nonfiction is using personal experience and outside knowledge and incorporating it into pieces of writing that would otherwise be considered nonfiction.

Both All Around the Town by Herbert Asbury, and The Curve of Binding Energy by John McGhee are excellent examples of creative nonfiction. They take actual events, and interpret them in a more human and creative way. Through creative nonfiction writing both the actual writers and those who will be reading the piece can make connections to the information giving them a better understanding of the subject and sparking their interest. For example, John McPhee warned his readers about the safeguards that are needed for protecting nuclear weapons. While this could have been an extremely dry topic, the way he presented the information through the life and views of Ted Taylor brought the material to life. Creative nonfiction can be thought of as a stretching of facts to make a story more memorable, examples of this can be seen throughout All Around the Town. One of the short stories that stuck out in my mind is “The Sawing of Manhattan Island.” This particular story is about Lozier and John DeVoe; they pull off a great hoax on the people of Manhattan. They are able to convince Mayor Allen that it would be necessary to saw off the island of Manhattan, and then sail it past Ellis Island, where it could be spun around and floated into a new position. Lozier having a very charismatic and persuasive personality was able to get people to want to be a part of this project by supplying food and doing different outrageous jobs. The hoax was in the fact that they were able to not only trick people into believing that Manhattan would really be sawed off; but also that between 500 and 1,000 people showed up at Bowery and Spring Street ready to kick off the project. In the end, the hoax is pulled off because Lozier and DeVoe escape to Brooklyn, and are never arrested because no one will admit to falling for the ridiculous scheme. The combination of facts and story telling elements make this story not only creative nonfiction but something that is enjoyable to read, and also leaves the reader questioning whether or not this story itself is also a hoax.

While I believe that creative nonfiction is an important style of writing to understand and to be able to use when appropriate, there are also some people who have found valid reasons to critique it. It can be viewed as an excuse for authors to take something that is fictional and loosely use it to create their own stories and opinions, with out using enough credible information to be considered any type of nonfiction. An example of this can be seen in James Frey’s now controversial “memoir” A Million Little Pieces. After the book was published it was discovered that a lot of the information in the book was not true but fabricated. While Frey did go to rehab, a lot of the events that took place in the story did not actually happen in the time he spent there. In a way this makes me question this as a work of creative nonfiction and just how much personal or creative material can be used in a piece of writing before it is considered fiction. I can see how there is a very fine line between creative nonfiction and straight fiction writing. It is essential for authors to create the right balance to prevent problems in credibility similar to those that James Frey faced.

While the use of creative nonfiction may not be appropriate for all subjects, I believe that an understanding of the properties of this genre can help in any area of study. Even though bringing aspects of your own life or experience into a history term paper for example might not be a good idea unless you were specifically assigned to do so, being able to connect the things that you can relate to or enjoy to assignments and course material can make work more enjoyable, well written, and relatable to your own life. The use of creative nonfiction takes away from just doing assignments because you have to do them. An understanding of this style of writing helps you to think about topics beyond what is presented and gain a deeper and more personal understanding.