Its focus on memory distinguishes it from the personal essay, which presents a particular insight the author packages in a personal narrative. It can be short (like a short story) or it can be book-length. Memoir is a personal story of the past, based on memory. The prominent forms of creative nonfiction are: The “creative” in “creative nonfiction” means the story is told creatively, using the same storytelling techniques a fiction writer employs: character development, scene, setting, tension. Cookbooks, history books, how-to articles and books, journalism (reportage, op-eds, etc.), all of that is nonfiction. Simply put, nonfiction comprises everything that’s not a novel, nor a short story, nor poetry or drama (drama is a form of fiction, strictly speaking poetry can straddle the two). The defining word here is “stories.” Storytelling differentiates creative nonfiction from its parent category of nonfiction. (See my article It’s OK to Lie in Memoir) Storytelling is the Key. Whenever writers of creative nonfiction, and in particular memoir writers, have fudged facts, they’ve gotten in trouble with readers. While creative nonfiction can present different truths depending on the point of view it presents, it cannot (should not!) fudge facts. Creative nonfiction is the counterpart to fiction.įiction (its forms are the short story and the novel) tells stories that could have happened (or might happen if you’re writing science fiction or fantasy), whereas creative nonfiction tells stories that did happen. I would prefer “literary nonfiction,” but alas, creative nonfiction has largely stuck. I actually dislike the term, as do many writers in this genre, because it causes confusion. The answer is really quite simple: Memoir is a form of creative nonfiction. If one person asks, I figure, more are probably wondering. A new student asked me to explain the difference between creative nonfiction and memoir, and so I thought I’d clarify this here today.
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