While cruising our website, reading our flyers, or even submitting a piece of your own to Short Vine, you may have noticed the reiteration of the phrase “Literary Nonfiction”. When you see this you might question, what is Literary Nonfiction?
To start, let’s clear some misconceptions about Literary Nonfiction. While many would assume that Literary Nonfiction is just what the title says, nonfiction, they are correct- albeit, not completely correct. While the genre of Literary Nonfiction is nonfiction, it is a wide, diverse genre of writing and nonfiction pieces. The name in itself, “Literary Nonfiction”, tells us all we need to know about the genre. First, we see the word “Literary”, showing us the creative, storytelling side; the side that allows people to create and tell the audience something in a fluid, entertaining way. The second half of the name, “Nonfiction”, tells us the primary genre of the piece: Nonfiction. This allows us to understand what readers are faced with is a piece of work that is related to a real-life subject. A good way to think about this would be to think of a movie that says in the beginning credits, “Based on a true story”.
When most people hear the word “nonfiction”, they typically think of genres such as journalism (cold, hard facts about a person, place, or situation), biographies, how-to books, etc. While Literary Nonfiction covers some of those genres, such as biographies, Literary Nonfiction is a unique genre in its ability to allow writers to explore their creative side while telling a story that is truthful to reality. In fact, Literary Nonfiction can also be referred to as “Creative Nonfiction”, and is often referred to as such in a larger community in order to keep confusion at bay.
To write Literary Nonfiction, there are a few elements considered essential to the genre. There are 5 R’s to the genre, which are: Real life, Reflection, Research, Reading, and w(R)iting. While research and reflection are essential to writing Literary Nonfiction, it is also important to incorporate elements of fiction (such as the flow of storytelling) and poetry in your piece. Basically, it is essential to stay close to the truth and do the necessary research (whether it is on a subject you’re familiarizing yourself with or personal research on a personal subject), but allow yourself to tell the story in a way that is not only entertaining to read, but to write and allow yourself some creative freedom.
Many popular books are considered Literary Nonfiction. Some well known examples of the genre include: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (a personal favorite), In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. The more you familiarize yourself with the genre, the easier it is to understand and grasp the concept of; both as a reader and as a writer.
While the phrase “Literary Nonfiction” may seem intimidating to a new writer, it is a fairly simple concept that many people work within without even realizing it. Throughout your academic career, you may have written multiple Literary Nonfiction pieces without even trying! So go forth, do some research, and try your hand at Literary Nonfiction. Good luck!
Works Cited
Fox, Roy F, and Amy A. Lannin. Belly Up to the Pond: Teaching Teachers Creative Nonfiction in an Online Class. The Writing Instructor, Sept. 2007, writinginstructor.com.