K to 12 Training

June 1 to 3
By Dr. Maricon C. Viduya
 Interesting
 Moving
 Compelling
 Enthralling
 Dramatic
 Imaginative
 Fascinating
 Catchy
 Cinematic
 Can be spelled as nonfiction or non-fiction
 Not fiction
 Based on facts or real events
 Abbreviated as CNF
 CNF is also known as literary journalism, the literature of
fact, literary narrative, or narrative nonfiction
 CNF merges the boundaries between literary art (fiction,
poetry) and research nonfiction (statistical, fact-filled, run
of the mill journalism)
 It is writing composed of the real, or of facts, that employs
the same literary devices as fiction such as setting,
voice/tone, character development, etc.
 It involves writing about anything such as personal experience,
events, real people, or issues in the public eye.
 When writing about another person, the writer uses techniques from
literary journalism to create a portrait of a person interviewed.
 The writer can also inject personal thoughts, feelings, or opinions
into the writing. Often, the writer uses the first person “I.”
 However, the writer may choose to write through an
omniscient perspective, meaning the writer wouldn’t
be in the piece at all.
 In CNF, writers attempt to observe, record, and thus shape a
moment from real life.
 Writers extract meaning through factual details and overlay them
with traditional conceptions of dramatic structure.
 While rendering meaning from an observed scene, a piece should
suggest a beginning, middle, and end that clearly conveys
the conflict and the characters, and pushes the action toward some
sort of closure.
 CNF attempts to project a dramatic, literary framework upon
everyday existence, rendering it enjoyable, enlightening and
potentially meaningful.
 truth + literary fashion = CNF
 what happened + how it felt = CNF
 factual truth + emotional and psychological truth = CNF
 objective (social sciences: measureable, verifiable) + subjective (the art: intuitive,
emphatic, imaginative) = CNF

 “TRUE STORIES WELL TOLD”

 Creative nonfiction is like jazz—it’s a rich mix of
flavors, ideas, and techniques, some of which
are newly invented and others as old as writing
itself. Creative nonfiction can be an essay, a journal
article, a research paper, a memoir, or a poem; it
can be personal or not, or it can be all of these.
– Lee Gutkind
 The word “creative” refers to the use of literary craft, the techniques
fiction writers, playwrights, and poets employ to present nonfiction—
factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a
compelling, vivid, dramatic manner. The goal is to
make nonfiction stories read like fiction so that
your readers are as enthralled by fact as they are by fantasy.
– Lee Gutkind
 "Creative” doesn’t mean inventing what didn’t happen,
reporting and describing what wasn’t there. It doesn’t mean
that the writer has a license to lie. The cardinal rule is
clear—and cannot be violated. This is the pledge the writer
makes to the reader—the maxim we live by, the anchor of
creative nonfiction: “You can’t make this stuff up!”
- Lee Gutkind
 CNF should . . .
1. Include accurate and well-researched information,
2. Hold the interest of the reader
3. Potentially blur the realms of fact and fiction in a pleasing
literary style (while remaining grounded in fact)
 Fact. The writing must be based on fact, rather than fiction.
It cannot be made up.
 Extensive research. The piece of writing is based on
primary research, such as an interview or personal
experience, and often secondary research, such as
gathering information from books, magazines, and
newspapers.
 Reportage/reporting. The writer must be able to
document events or personal experiences.
 Personal experience and personal opinion. Often, the
writer includes personal experience, feelings, thoughts,
and opinions. For instance, when writing a personal essay
or memoir.
 Explanation/Exposition. The writer is required to explain
the personal experience or topic to the reader.
 Essay format. Creative nonfiction is often written in
essay format. Example: Personal Essay, Literary Journalistic
essay, brief essay.
 Storytelling/narration. The writer needs to be able to tell
his/her story. A good story includes an inciting incident, a
goal, challenges and obstacles, a turning point, and resolution
of the story.
 Character. The nonfiction piece often requires a main
character. Example: If a writer is creating his/her memoir,
then the writer is the central character.
 Setting and scene. The writer creates scenes that are action-
oriented; include dialogue; and contain vivid descriptions.
 Plot and plot structure. These are the main events that
make up the story. In a personal essay, there might be only
one event. In a memoir, there are often several significant
events.
 Figurative language. The writer often uses simile and
metaphor to create an interesting piece of creative
nonfiction.
 Imagery. The writer constructs “word pictures” using
sensory language. Imagery can be figurative or literal.
 Point of view. Often the writer uses the first
person “I.”
 Dialogue. These are the conversations spoken
between people. It is an important component of
creative nonfiction.
 Theme. There is a central idea that is weaved
through the essay or work. Often, the theme reveals
a universal truth.
1. Creative nonfiction has a “real life”
aspect. The writer constructs a personal
essay, memoir, and so forth, that is based
on personal experience. He also writes
about real people and true events.
2. Creative nonfiction is based on the writer
engaging in personal “reflection” about
what he/she is writing about. After
gathering information, the writer needs to
analyze and assess what he/she has collected.
He then must evaluate it and express his
thoughts, views, opinions. Personal opinion
is permissible and encouraged.
 3. Creative nonfiction requires that the writer complete
research. The writer needs to conduct research to learn
about the topic. The writer also needs to complete research
to discover what has been written about the topic. Even if a
writer is crafting a personal essay, he will need to complete
secondary research, such as reviewing a personal journal,
or primary research, such as interviewing a friend or family
member, to ensure that the information is truthful and
factual.
4. The fourth aspect of creative nonfiction is
reading. Reading while conducting research is not
sufficient. The writer must read the work of the
masters of his profession.
5. The final element of creative nonfiction is
writing. Writing creative nonfiction is both an art and craft.
The art of creative nonfiction requires that the writer uses his
talents, instincts, creative abilities, and imagination to write
memorable creative nonfiction. The craft of creative
nonfiction requires that the writer learn and deploy the style
and techniques of creative nonfiction in his/her work.
According to Michael Steinberg and Robert L. Root, Jr.

1. Personal presence.
“Throughout the various forms of creative nonfiction,
whether the subject is the writer’s self (as perhaps in
personal essays and memoirs) or an objective, observed
reality outside the self (as perhaps in nature essays and
personal cultural criticism), the reader is taken on a journey
into the mind and personality of the writer.”
According to Michael Steinberg and Robert L. Root, Jr.

2. Self-discovery and self-exploration.

“This genre grants writers permission to explore without
knowing where they will end up, to be tentative, speculative,
reflective....Writers who seem most at home with this genre
are those who like to delve and to inquire, to question, to
explore, probe, meditate, analyze, turn things over, brood,
worry--all of which creative nonfiction allows, even
encourages.”
According to Michael Steinberg and Robert L. Root, Jr.

3. Flexibility of form.
“Part of the excitement of the genre is its openness to
creative forms as well as to creative contents, its invitation to
experiment and push at boundaries between genres, and its
ability to draw on an unlimited range of literary techniques.”
According to Michael Steinberg and Robert L. Root, Jr.

4. Veracity.
“....creative nonfiction is reliably factual, firmly anchored in
real experience, whether the author has lived it or observed
and recorded it.”
According to Michael Steinberg and Robert L. Root, Jr.
5. Literary approaches to language.
“The language of creative nonfiction is as literary, as imaginative, as
that of other literary genres and is similarly used for lyrical, narrative,
and dramatic effects.”...
“The writer’s role and the structure of the writing are not as
predictable in creative nonfiction as they are in other forms, such as
the news article or the academic research paper, the sermon or the
lecture. The structure of the essay or article may be experimental or
unexpected, an attempt to generate literary form out of subject matter
instead of trying to wedge subject matter into an all-purpose literary
form.”
According to Philip Gerard
1) an apparent subject (the “teaching” element) and a deeper subject
(the mind of the writer, process of thought)
2) not necessarily “timely,” although it might be; tension between the
urgency of the event and the timelessness of its meaning
3) narrative frame (scenes, action-oriented, character, dialogue)
4) reflection; “finished” thought, finally; the sense that it has been
percolating
5) attention to craft of writing
According to Lee Gutkind
1. Focus, meaning
2. Frame, usually narrative
3. Cinematic, action oriented, usually told in scenes
4. Intimate and knowing detail
5. Inner point of view
6. Magic moment
According to Lee Gutkind
7. Informational/teaching element. “Over and above the creativity of voice and the
quality of the experience being communicated, the reader must be offered
something to learn--an idea, a collection of facts, fortified with insight, reflection, and
interpretation.”
8. strong element of reportage
9. well-written prose, rich with detail and told with a distinctive voice
10. a compelling, focused narrative, sustained from beginning to end, that is well
structured, specific in detail, and which conveys a meaning.