“True Stories, Well Told” is the concise phrase sported by the Creative Nonfiction magazine that celebrates the literary genre of that same name.
The term creative nonfiction defines a relatively new genre or at least one recognized in the last century that includes many forms of personal history. It’s become an umbrella term that includes multiple forms of memoir that not only describe the personal experience of the author but also enhance the readers’ knowledge of the universe.
The genre welcomes elements of research within the written or oral piece. Experts are quoted; literature examples are cited. Additionally, the genre includes well-developed settings and characterization, as well as dialogue and the development of the narrative arc or plot. In this way, methods used by fiction writers are incorporated while keeping the goal of keeping the story “true.” Without becoming fiction, the writing or recording may sound and feel like fiction. All in all, experimentation on HOW the story will be told is the driving force of this genre.
Quoting the masters at Creative Nonfiction would deepen our understanding of the genre:
Writers who write creative nonfiction are very different in voice, orientation and purpose. But what they have in common is that they are, in one way or the other, writing true stories that provide information about a variety of subjects, enriched by relevant thoughtful ideas, personal insight, and intimacies about life and the world we live in. And this scope and variety is exactly what makes creative nonfiction significant and, these days, so incredibly popular.
https://creativenonfiction.org/what-is-cnf/
This genre invites the author to hunt for the best way to tell his story, He searches for the best form that captures his story’s pathos or unique-ness. He is free to experiment with the craft while keeping his story, the truth, the central focus.
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