Creative Writing For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 19

Crafting Narrative Nonfiction

IN THIS CHAPTER

Defining narrative nonfiction

Finding the story and doing the writing

Considering the range of stories

Narrative nonfiction is a relatively new term for writing that’s essentially based on fact, which uses real characters, places, and events but also employs many of the techniques of fiction writing, such as characterization, dialogue, description, and narrative structure. This genre is known by several different names: creative nonfiction, literary nonfiction, and literary journalism.

Narrative nonfiction needs to be essentially true to the facts – some books sold as memoirs or real-life stories turned out to be untrue, which sparked huge controversy. However, while journalism strives overall to be objective, readers of narrative nonfiction are usually happy to accept the account as biased, reflecting the point of view of the narrator.

Exploring the World of Narrative Nonfiction

Narrative nonfiction is essentially a hybrid – a marriage of storytelling and factual journalism. It aims to make the world of real people, places, ...