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Writing Your Story

Writing Your Story. The Art of Creative Non-Fiction. An Exciting Time in the Writing World.

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Writing Your Story

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  1. Writing Your Story The Art of Creative Non-Fiction

  2. An Exciting Time in the Writing World “When I pick a story, I’m very much aware of the larger issues that it’s illuminating. But one of the things that I, as a writer, feel strongly about is that nobody is representative. That’s just narrative nonsense. People may be part of a larger story or structure or institution, but they’re still people. Making them representative loses sight of that” Katherine Boo, Beyond the Beautiful Forevers “Twelve years ago I began to train myself, for the purpose of this sort of book, to transcribe conversation without using a tape-recorder. I did it by having a friend read passages from a book, and then later I'd write them down to see how close I could come to the original. I had a natural facility for it, but after doing these exercises for a year and a half, for a couple of hours a day, I could get within 95 percent of absolute accuracy, which is as close as you need,” Truman Capote, Discussing creative journalism

  3. Myths of Non-Fiction

  4. Blurring the Lines Nonfiction words classified as fiction Nonfiction works more exciting than any fiction story David Sheilds, How Literature Saved my Life Truman Capote, In Cold Blood Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers Chris McDougall, Born to Run Junot Diaz, This is How You Lose Her Laird Hunt, Never Home Jack Kerouac, On the Road Anything written by Ernest Hemmingway James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

  5. Life of Pi by Yann Martel • The fictions we create to reveal the truth • How do we know the truth? • What is real and what is imagination? • Is an imagined truth more meaningful than truth? • If the theme is the same, if the end is the same, does it matter how that end was realized?

  6. Defining Creative Non-Fiction • Creativity and Imagination • Powerful and engaging plot • Realistic, complex characters • Relevant themes • Reveals the unexpected, untold stories of well known events, people, and places • Language shows, entertains, and transports • Reader/Writer relationship: sharing an experience that can be confusing, ambiguous, and uncomfortable for the purpose of discovery and realization

  7. Making Distinctions Historical Account/Traditional Journalism Creative Non-Fiction Describe the fall of the roman empire through the pov of a servant living in the empire during that time Short story that describes the events leading up to that homicide through the eyes of the lead detective • Describe a series of dates and events that lead to the collapse of the Roman empire • Newspaper article about a recent homicide

  8. Types of Creative Non-Fiction • Memoir • Personal/Narrative Essay • Autobiographical essay/novel • Novel • Short Story • Poetry • Documentary

  9. Planning Your Story What story do you want to tell? What will your theme be? A theme is like a thesis only more universal and open Describes the larger message or purpose driving this story What your main characters, readers, etc. will learn or realize throughout the story • What type of story do you want to tell? • What knowledge must be gained or learned to tell this story? • Notice how the emphasis here is on a story, not on a person or event.

  10. And then? Decide on your structure Map it out! Use notes, an excel spreadsheet, whatever is necessary, to keep track of the pieces of your story and how those pieces will come together. • Perspective • Characters • Conflict • Plot

  11. Stay focused on theme, not plot Plot perspective Theme perspective Born to Run is the story of one man’s search for freedom. Is running a chore, a painful task that destroys our bodies and minds, or is running an essential part of what makes us human? Racing through the jungles of South America, several vibrant individuals come together to discover the power of the human spirit and to test the theory that running is as essential to human evolution as breathing. • Born to Run is a story about a running event in South America. A tribe lost to the world is able to run hundreds of miles without injury or fatigue. A local runner and journalist travels to their country to learn their secrets and to rediscover his passion for running. In the process, he meets other runners, explores the history of distance running, and runs in the most challenging race of his life.

  12. Big Advice as You Begin Writing Avoid “and then” writing Thematic Connections The connections between events, people, and plot lines in your story should be thematic Cause/effect, etc. connections aren’t enough • Avoid collapsing into chronological structures • Encyclopedia structures • Instead, tell a story

  13. Man vs. Man • Man vs. Self • Man vs. Society • Old self vs. New Self • Old view of x vs. New view of x. • Old values/beliefs vs. New values/beliefs Build Conflict with Tension

  14. Thinking Ahead Resolution Use language beautifully Use concrete words and descriptions Use memory soaked words Use figurative language Show, don’t tell • Have a resolution • This doesn’t mean that the story is finished, but that the main conflict has realized its end

  15. Show, Don’t Tell What does this mean? • Use dialogue • Descriptive language • Use gaps and ambiguity wisely • Don’t over explain everything • Leave some things left unsaid

  16. Show versus Tell Tell Show “Emily, honey…you can’t do this,” her mother pleaded. “Just, eat. Please. It’s been days. You have to eat something…please…” Her mother’s voice trailed off into tears. Emily lay in the darkness of her room. The lightness of her was strange. She looked up at a picture sitting above her bed, a photo of the last day she and her father had been together. She reached her arms up but quickly lowered them. Every movement caused pain. A weakness filled her mind and made every thought feel far away. How many days had it been? Her mother continued to paw at the door. “Emily…” It wouldn’t be long, Emily thought. She settled back into the dark and dreamed of that day, that final day. “Daddy.” she whispered. “You can’t leave me. I won’t let you.” • Following the death of her father, Emily was devastated. She ignored her mother. She was beyond words and compassion. She locked herself in her room and refused to eat. Slowly, she wasted away. Emily was clearly suicidal.

  17. What’s Next? • Disrupt Convention and Expectation • Leave Gaps • Use Humor • Your Buzz words are • Significant • Discovery

  18. Simple Plot: Complex Characters • Moments of enlightenment • Passages/Journeys • Confronting the Unknown • Moments of choice and crisis • Problems with relationships • Accepting limits • Contrasting experiences

  19. Importance of Non-Fiction • Non-fiction is art, is literature, and is necessary • Tells the untold stories • Allows us to connect on a human level with the big stories and events that dominate our history and experiences • Shares your perspective of the world • Prevents general or representative story-telling

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