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Using Memories to Write Creative Nonfiction
Yesterday, I finished reading the chapter on Memories from Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach. He writers a good chapter on how to unlock memories in order to recall life stories, which can be the basis of personal essays and a memoir. He writes: “One of the curious things about the act of writing is the way it can give access to the unconscious mind.”
I also read the chapter on memories in Tell It Slant, a good creative nonfiction book by Brenda Miller. She writes about the importance of memories, and the five senses of memories.
This article provides a definition of memory, the importance of memory, how to rediscover memory, the fine line between fact and fiction, and how to write about memory.
Definition of Memory
The Psychology Today website states that the following about memory:
“Memory is a crucial part of human identity. Maybe you think of it as just “a record of stuff that happened,” but if you don’t know where you’ve been, you can’t know who you are or where you’re going.
There are several types of memory: memory for events, for facts, for how to do things, and working memory, which holds ideas in our head just long enough to turn them over. They’re all malleable, and they’re all mysterious, which you don’t really realize until they fail you.”
For the purpose of this article, I am defining a memory as anything that you remember from your past.
In writing creative nonfiction, it is the task of the writer to rediscover important memories, make sense of them, and then write about them in a way that is interesting to the reader.
Importance of Memories
In Tell It Slant, Brenda Miller writes that we often seek meaning from our memories, which are often based on random, inexplicable events. She write that memory itself can be called “its own bit of creative nonfiction. We continually, often unconsciously, renovate our memories, shaping them into stories that bring coherence to chaos.”
Memories also help define who we are as human beings and why we are the way we are. It is our memories which define our sense of self. Without memories, you have no past experience. You are continually living in the moment, without any sense of past experience. In writing creative nonfiction, especially a memoir, the writer’s task is to rediscover the important memories.
Often when the writer rediscovers a memory, the writer remembers related memories. The writer’s task is to understand why the memory is important. What is the significance?
But memory can be faulty. Often the writer doesn’t remember all the details, or he gets the details wrong. In this case, the write must rely on emotional truth and fact checking to write the facts as best he can.
Rediscovering Memories
We piece together our memories from the fragments of life’s events that we’ve retained, in order to understand who we are. The difficulty for the creative writer is to recapture these memories and to makes sense of them.
In his chapter on Memories, Roorbach includes three good exercises on how to unlock memories. One of his exercises involves “mapmaking.” To complete this exercise, the writer needs to create a map of his earliest neighbourhood the writer can remember and then add as many pleasurable and unpleasant details as possible. Who lived there? What were the secret hiding places? Who were your friends? For instance, the writer can add the names of streets, people, and places that are appealing.
In the second exercise, Roorbach tells the writer to write a story about the neighbourhood, something that happened to the writer.
Another exercise involves a time line, in which the writer charts all that happened to him/her in a given year.
I completed this exercise. I took the year 1980. In that year, I attended the University of Toronto. I was completing a Library Arts Degree, and majoring in Political Science and Economics. My courses included Political Science, Psychology, American History, and Russian History, and Macro Economics. I often attended the pubs at St.Michael’s college in downtown Toronto. I drove a light blue Volkswagen, like the colour of the sky, which my father had given me. I was dating ,Connie, my first love. We dated for 7 years. I have no idea where she is now. Or who is she is, for that matter. I worked as a dishwasher for Steak n Burger restaurant. In the summer, I worked for Bell Canada, installing jacks for phones in people’s houses. I was still living at home. Brother Brad, was playing for the Kingston Canadians. Brother Ryan was in High School at George Henry. Not sure if he was dating Brenda. My parents were divorced. I lived with my mother. My dad lived in a condo around the corner near Fairview mall. Not sure if he was dating Mary. At the time, Pierre Trudeau was prime minister. The Cold War was making news. And the hostages were still imprisoned by the fanatics in Iran. At that time, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. Bands like The Police were making music. I don’t remember what movies or books were popular. But I am sure I could find out by searching the Web. In December of that year, John Lennon was assassinated. It was a huge shock to all, and devastating to me. You see, Lennon was my ideal, my mentor, someone who I aspired to be like. It was the day the music died in many ways for me. I was 20, going on 21. I remember all of this from thirty years ago.
What I learned from this exercise is that we have an endless amount of untapped memory. And that once we reconnect with our past, we can remember more and more. Remembering one memory often enables us to remember other things.
Memories as Fact or Fiction
Many personal essays and all memoirs are based on the writer’s memories. But memory can be faulty. Roorbach makes this point explicitly. We don’t remember ever detail. And sometimes your memories are just plain WRONG.
The key points to remember are that the writer must try to get the facts right—to the best of the writer’s ability. Often, this involves fact checking.
Other times writing about memories involves writing about the emotional truth. This involves gather the facts as best the writer can, but then filling in the details using your emotional truth, what seems right to you emotionally. In other words, if it was true to writer on an emotional level, the writer can write about it as if it is the truth.
And when the writer doesn’t know exactly what happened or cannot remember, the writer must tip off the reader by writing a disclaimer. For instance, the writer could write “to the best of my memory…. I don’t remember….Perhaps this happened…As I recall…Often the writer will need to verify his/her memories by fact checking.
Memories as Metaphors and Similes
In Tell It Slant, Brenda Miller suggests that it is more important to analyze why you remember a particular memory than what you remember. She suggests that you can make sense of a memory by describing it in relation to something else.
You can write about memory as a simile. Some memories are vague, like dreams. Others are vivid, like a photograph. Many memories are not understood, like an abstract painting.
You can also write about memories as metaphors. A diary is a memory. A photograph is a memory. A personal journal is a memory. Home videos are memories.
The task of the writer is to rediscover memories, make sense of them, and then to write about them in a creative way.
The Five Senses of Memory
In Tell It Slant, Brenda Miller tells us that we can evoke different memories from our senses.
Sight
The sense of sight is the most obvious way to evoke memories. For instance, when people see a casket at a funeral, it often evokes the memories of loved ones who have passed on. When we look at old photos, memories are evoked. When we watch old TV shows, memories are stirred in our minds.
Smell
The sense of smell can evoke memories. For instance, when I smell curry, I think of the time that I was sick after eating this dish. Our sense of smell can trigger an experience.
Hearing
Your sense of hearing can trigger memories. The sound of music can trigger nostalgic memories. Whenever I hear Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, I think of my high school dance.
Taste
Your sense of taste can trigger memories. For instance, when I drink orange pop, I think of the time that I was ill after drinking a bottle of Orange Crush. When I eat Macintosh toffee, I think of all those time as a boy that I would spend my allowance on buying a box at the local candy store.
Touch
Your sense of touch can evoke memories. For instance, when I touch an ice cube, I think of icicles or winter.
Final Comments
Memories provide the details you add to your life story to make it believable and to recreate the experience in the mind of the reader. By unlocking one memory, you can discover other memories and sift through them to find useful, interesting, surprising facts. You can then use your memories to write personal essays, autobiography, or a memoir.
Gathering Facts
The literary journalistic essay requires that the writer gather facts that are external to his/her own life. For instance, suppose the writer is writing an article that took place in 2000. To give the story context, a specific mood, and to make it more believable, the writer could incorporate important facts of that year, such as the top-selling books, popular songs and movies, and significant events. Where would the writer go to find this information? How would the writer gather this information? This article answers these questions.
Before writing the creative nonfiction piece, the writer needs to determine what information he/she needs and where to find this information. To gather information, the writer has several methods:
- Library. The writer can conduct research by reading and taking notes from books, magazines, articles, and microfilm.
- Internet. The writer can conduct research by using Google, the most popular search engine in the world. Not only can the writer discover what has been written, he/she can also find leads to new sources of information, such as subject matter experts. And the writer can locate facts and details for the essay.
- Public Records. Property records will tell writer what properties a person owned. Criminal records will tell the writer whether a person has been charged with a crime and what crime. Court records will tell the writer about marriage licenses, divorce, name changes, criminal records.
- Private Records. Diaries, personal journals, family videos, Facebook, and other social networking sites can be good sources of factual information.
- Immersion. The writer can become a participant in the story. For instance, before writing Paper Lion, writer George Plimpton joined the training camp of the 1963 Detroit Lions on a tryout basis, so that he could write a creative nonfiction book about NFL football. Suppose the writer wanted to write about hockey, the best way to start would be to put on the equipment and participate in a practise or scrimmage. The experience would provide the writer with a sense of how the game is played and what it feels like to play.
- Interview. To write a literary journalistic essay, the writer will need quotes and from subject matter experts, eye witnesses, or people who took part in the story. To obtain this information, the writer can conduct an interview. To do this, the writer needs a pen and note pad, or a tape recorder. The writer also needs to prepare for the interview. He/she should have a list of prepared questions to ask.
- Travel. The writer’s goal is to gather not just any facts, but facts that will be interesting, surprising, and curious to the reader. To write a good creative nonfiction piece, the writer will need to recreate the scene. The scene creates a context and mood for the story. To gather the facts, the writer will need to revisit the place. This is especially true for travel writing. Often, the writer will need to play the role of the tourist. Sometimes the writer will need to travel to visit the location where the event or experience took place, to get a feel for the place. Or the writer might need to conduct an interview with a person who is living in another city or town.
- Observation. Sometimes the writer can observe the story. For instance, suppose the writer was gathering information about the joys of cooking. He/she could observe a chef in his kitchen. Suppose the writer wanted to write about film making. The best way would be to observe the director on the setting, making a film. While observing the experience or events, the writer can make notes or record his/her thoughts in a tape recorder.
- Reading. A good writer is continuously conducting research by reading widely and deeply for next topic. By reading biographies, essays, articles, newspapers, the writer can discover and gather information for the next story. A good creative nonfiction writer is always reading about different subjects and topics. A good writer is always learning, and reading enables the writer to learn new things.
Creative nonfiction is the literature of fact. The writer will need to gather the facts by conducting research. The type of research the writer will need to complete depends on the types of facts the writer requires. The writer will often need to use different methods of research. The writer needs to gather facts that make the true story believable, interesting, and surprising.
For more information, you can read the chapter on “Finding the Facts” in Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach.
If you have any questions or comments, please post them to this blog, or you can send an email to me at davehood59@gmail.com .
Use a Distinctive Voice and Intimate Point of View
In the last post, I write on how to write dramatic scenes when writing a personal essay, memoir, travel article, and so forth. In this post, I will discuss two other important techniques for writing creative nonfiction: Using a distinctive voice and an intimate point of view.
The Distinctive Voice
What do we mean by voice? A writer’s voice has many elements. It refers to the writer’s choice of language, diction, or vocabulary. It also refers to the writer’s choice of syntax or sentence types and sentence patterns. It refers to the writer’s tone, which refers to the writer’s attitude toward his/her topic and the reader. A writer’s voice is also expressed in the literary devices he/she uses, such as simile, metaphor, and imagery. And the writer’s life experiences and education also contribute to his/her voice.
Good creative nonfiction is based on a distinctive writer’s voice that appeals to the reader. It is entertaining and easy to understand. It appeals to the emotions and intellect of the reader. It motivates or inspires the reader to want to read more of the writer’s work.
How to Develop a Distinctive Voice
As an aspiring writer, you will need to develop your distinct voice. It takes time and practise. It evolves with the passage of time, providing that you write on a regular basis. Your writer’s voice can change or evolve as you gain more experience in writing and learning and experimenting with the techniques of creative nonfiction.
How do you develop a distinctive voice? Here are a few tips:
- Read widely and deeply. You can start by reading the essays in The Art of the Personal Essay by Phillip Lopate and the Best American Essays series. It is published each year.
- Write each day. Only through practise will you develop the art and craft of writing, which also implies that you are developing your distinctive voice.
- Read and master the principles of the Elements of Style by Strunk and White.
- Read and master the advice written by William Zinsser’s classic, On Writing Well.
- When writing creative nonfiction, write about what interests you and what you are passionate about.
- Expand your vocabulary and incorporate these new words into your writing.
- Enrol in workshops and creative nonfiction courses at university or community college.
- Read how-to-books on creative nonfiction, such as Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction by Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola, and Truth of the Matter: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction by Dinty W. Moore. Other good books are The Art of Creative Nonfiction by Lee Gutkind and Writing Creative Nonfiction by Philip Gerard
- Write in a way that comes naturally. Don’t put on airs. Don’t write in a breezy manner. Use your own language and sentence patterns and structure.
Choose an Intimate Point of View
What do we mean by point of view? Point of view refers to how the events or experience is told. A story can be told from the first person “I.” It is the most intimate point of view. The writer is a character within the story. The writer can reveal his/her thoughts, feelings, and opinions.
The story, experience, or events can also be told using the third person point of view “he/she.” This is the approach used in journalism. When using third-person, the writer has two choices: Third-person objective or third-person subjective. When using third-person objective, the story is told from the perspective of an unbiased narrator who is a character within the story. To tell the story, the writer uses “he/she.” At no time, does the narrator reveal his/her thoughts, feelings, or opinions. Truman Capote used this technique to write In Cold Blood. When using the third person subjective, the story is told using “he/she”. The writer can also reveal the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of any character within the story.
Sometimes the story is told using the second person or “you” point of view. But it is not common.
How does the writer decide on a point of view? Often, the type of writing will determine the point of view. Almost all personal essays and memoirs are based on the first person point of view. Frequently, travel writing is also told from the first-person point of view. Many literary journalistic essays and biographies are told from the third-person point of view.
The first person point of view allows the writer to share his/her thoughts, feelings, and opinions. By doing this, the writing gains the trust of the reader.
The type of voice the writer also contributes to building an intimate point of view. When a memoir, personal essay, autobiography, the writer can use a conversational, friendly tone,as though he/she is carrying on a conversation with the reader. To write in a conversational and friendly manner, the writer can use everyday language, contractions, slang, and colloquialisms.
The key points to remember when writing creative nonfiction are to use an intimate voice and distinctive point of view. Often, the best way is to combine both is to use “I” and to include your thoughts, feelings, and opinions in your writing.
To learn more, you can read The Truth of the Matter: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction by Dinty W. Moore.
Next, I will discuss how to write a literary journalistic essay.
Writing Dramatic Scenes
In writing a personal essay, memoir, travel writing, you must retell your personal experience.
To retell your story, you must recreate the scenes for the reader by using the techniques of creative nonfiction. The most important technique is “creating the dramatic scene.”
A dramatic scene is more than expressing your thoughts and emotions about an event or experience, or describing the setting/location. A dramatic scene is not expository writing or a summary of the events or experience. Both types of writing focus on “just the facts.”
Creating a dramatic scene in creative nonfiction involves using your memory, observation, and personal reflection to retell the facts in an interesting and compelling way. It also involves using dialogue, action, and details to capture the important events. Your goal is to present the facts as accurately as possible and to retell the story. Your goal is also to inform the reader and to entertain them.
This article will explain what is meant by the term “dramatic scene” and how to craft a dramatic scene when writing a personal essay, memoir, travel essay, and so forth.
Definition of Dramatic Scene
What is a dramatic scene? A dramatic scene is like a Hollywood film, which has a set, location, details, action, characters, and dialogue. According to Dinty Moore, the author of the Truth of the Matter; Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction, when you write a personal essay, memoir, literary journalism, you must craft scenes and not write expositions or summaries. A scene includes the following elements:
- Location/setting of the event or experience
- Concrete and specific details that are sensory details
- Action from characters who take participate in the story, event, or experience
- Sense of the passage of time
- Dialogue between characters to reveal something important about the character or the event or story.
Your goal is to make the experience come alive in the mind of your reader. Writing dramatic scenes is the way to recreate the experience.
Example:
Exposition or summary of an event:
This morning, I almost got into a fight with a stranger who attempted to run me over because of his careless driving.
Event based on scene:
This morning, while walking back from Tim Horton’s coffee shop, carrying my newspaper and cup of coffee, I almost got into a fight with a stranger who was driving a black Porsche. There was no sidewalk, so I had to walk home on the side of the road. Apparently, he didn’t like the fact that I was taking up the space where he intended to park. So rather than let me pass, he started to park as I was walking close to the curb. Attempting to park, he narrowly missed my feet by about 6 inches.
After he parked and climbed out of his car, I said, “You need to watch where you are going. You almost hit me with your car. There is no sidewalk, so I have to walk on the road. I have the right of way.”
He yelled, “Fuck off!”, and then walked up the street to get his morning fix of java, oblivious to how I felt or that he had done anything wrong.
I yelled back, “You are a rude person.”
I then continued to walk home. As I walked, I thought to myself: There is so much rudeness and a lack of civility in this big city of Toronto. And for a moment, I thought of going back to where he parked his Porsche, to wait for him, so that I could give him a piece of my mind. I thought of waiting for him, so that I could pour my cup of coffee on him. I thought of threatening him with bodily harm. I thought of calling the police. I thought of my mother who would tell me when I was a kid to “stay out of trouble.”
At some point during the walk home, my thoughts changed. I now felt relieved that the altercation had not escalated into something more serious or dangerous. I thanked myself for not reacting to my angry impulses.
Then I continued on my way, up the street, toward my home, enjoying the sunshine and mild spring day, one of the first since the end of the harsh, cold winter.
As I opened the front door to my basement apartment, I said to myself, “The black bears are out of their caves.”
How to Recreate the Scene
Before you recreate the scene, you need to remember what happened. Sometimes the event or experience happened recently. In this case, you can jot down the important details, action, and dialogue. Other times you will need to use your memory. You might also need to complete some research, such as reading a diary or personal journal”, visiting the place where the event took place, talking to friends or relatives who experienced the event. You won’t often remember every detail. But research and fact-checking will help you. You can also use the technique of “emotional truth.” It means that if it “feels right to you” you can write about it.
A dramatic scene has a sense of time and place. Time can refer to clock time, the time of day, the season of the year, or the time it takes for an event to occur. Place refers to location, which can refer to your family home, travel destination, nature, and so on. Be sure to include the time and location where the event or experience took place. It gives your story context and makes your story real. For instance, In September 1972, I saw the most important hockey game and sporting event in my life from the auditorium of my high school…
A dramatic scene also includes important details and descriptions. Details are concrete and specific. Details are also sensory images that appeal to the reader’s sense of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. Details make your story come alive. Example: Walking in the snow, the wind howling, the cold biting my face, I could see the trail to the road in the distance. I was hungry, exhausted, my body ached from the two hour cross country skiing in the woods, along the trail to the frozen lake, a place where I swam on during the warm, hot summer months of July and August. Now, it was January. I wanted to get home to cook a juicy, spicy pepper steak on the barbeque, drink a cold ale in front of the fire place, and relax on my lazy boy chair.
A dramatic scene includes the comments you make or the conversations between two or more people. A dramatic scene requires dialogue that reveals character or advances the narrative.
A dramatic scene includes action. You can write about your own behaviour other people’s behaviour. Your goal is to not include any action but action that is important or significant, action that is related to the event or events.
A scene can also include your own thoughts, feelings, and opinions. For instance, as the events or experience takes place, you can tell the reader how your felt or what were thinking. After the experience, you can provide the reader with your own view point.
As a creative nonfiction writer, your goal is to recreate the story or experience by using the technique of “writing dramatic scenes.” It involves showing your reading and not telling them what happened. You can show your reader what happened by describing the details, setting, and action, and by restating important dialogue. Writing dramatic scenes results in a compelling, entertaining, and memorable storytelling.
If you have any questions or comments, please post them to my blog.
Next, I will discuss point of view and voice as they apply to creative nonfiction.
How to Write Creative Nonfiction: Dialogue and Action
Revealing Character through Dialogue and Action
Readers are interested the comments, conversations, and behaviour of real people. For instance, the public was fascinated about the sexual indiscretions of Tiger Woods. And the media was quick to report on the story. Some would call it tabloid journalism.
Your goal in writing creative nonfiction is to recreate the events or experience of the true story for the reader. But you must state the facts and write the story using literary techniques. Revealing character through dialogue and revealing character through action are two important literary techniques that you can use to recreate the story.
This article discusses how you can reveal character through dialogue and through action.
Developing Character through Dialogue
What is dialogue? It refers to the words spoken by real people. It can be a comment made by a person or a conversation by two or more people. Your job is to recapture the important comments and conversations. You can remember dialogue by carefully observing what a person says and then writing it down later. If you are interviewing a person, you can make notes or use a tape recorder. If you are attempting to remember dialogue, you will have to recreate the dialogue to the best of your memory. Often you will need to interview family and friends, look at old photos, or revisit the place where the event took place. Be forewarned, if you include comments, conversations, or dialogue that never occurred, you are writing fiction, not creative nonfiction.
Purpose of Dialogue
According to Dinty Moore, who is the author of the fantastic book, Truth of the Matter: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction, including dialogue in your narrative has two benefits:
- Dialogue changes the flow or pace of the narrative, providing texture.
- Dialogue gives the reader the opportunity to interpret or judge the content of the dialogue and determine what sort of personality/character you are writing about.
Your goal as a creative nonfiction writer is remember and write about important comments and dialogue. It must reveal character or develop the story. For instance, a conversation between two people can be an important event in the story. It can even be a turning point. Suppose you are writing your memoir, a story in which your wife tells you she is going to leave you. She wants a divorce. This conversation might be a turning point in your life, a significant event that you might wish to share with your readers.
Writing dialogue is an important way to show, not tell your readers what happened. It helps to dramatize the story. It helps to recreate what happened. It is part of recreating the scene.
Developing Character through Action
What is action? It refers the behaviour or conduct of a person or people. In writing about a personal essay or memoir, your responsibility is to recreate the action in the story. Action moves a narrative forward and provides meaning to the readers. By writing about the conduct or behaviour of a person, you give the reader the opportunity to form an opinion about the personality or character of the person. Describing the action is part of recreating the scene and part of dramatizing the story. Without action, you have no story.
Developing character through action can involve writing about your own behaviour or other people’s behaviour. If you are writing about your own behaviour, you should be honest with yourself. Readers want to know who you are. Your foibles, character flaws, follies, and vices are part of you. If you are writing about someone else, you need to be able to observe the person’s behaviour and make note of it. You also need to become aware of your own prejudices and biases, and then explore them.
When writing about the conduct or behaviour of real people, you must show, not tell your readers. When you show readers how a person acted or behaved, you are dramatizing the story, recreating the event, and composing a realistic story, one that can engross readers.
Good creative nonfiction recreates the scene. In part, scene is composed of dialogue and action. Developing characters through dialogue and action are two techniques that allow you to dramatize your story. A dramatic story captures the attention of the reader and inspires them to read your work.
If you have any questions or comments, please post them to this blog.
Next, I will discuss how you can dramatize a scene, another important technique in writing creative nonfiction.
How to Write Creative Nonfiction: Writing about Place
Place is more than Just Location
Writing about place or location of the event or experience is an important technique in creative nonfiction. It often plays a vital role in your story. It allows you to recreate the scene and experience in the mind of the reader. It can act as a backdrop or provide context for a personal essay. It can add meaning to a memoir. For instance, if a writer creates a memoir about child abuse, the place or location is significant. Place can also be the subject of creative writing. If you are writing a travel essay, you will be writing about the place you are visiting. Often, without a place or location, you have no experience or event.
This article will define what creative nonfiction writers mean by place/location and explain how to write about place/location in your creative nonfiction.
Definition of Place
In creative nonfiction, the place or location where the event or experience took place is more than just about the name of the place. It is also the physical location of the place, the physical attributes, such as the urban setting of crowds, pollution, public transit, traffic jams or the rural setting of open spaces, fewer people, fields, farms, and small communities.
Place is also about its socioeconomic attributes of a setting. Some places are poor, while others are wealthy. Some places have high unemployment, while others have an abundance of employment opportunities. Some places have schools and hospitals, while other places have nothing.
In writing about travel, place is much more than the physical location. It is about the culture, language, values, morals, beliefs, customs, cuisine, traditions, and way of life.
In writing a memoir, place often has significant meaning. It can be a catalyst for memories of childhood, adulthood, unique experiences. In the memoir, My Life: The Presidential Years, the Whitehouse was a special place for Bill Clinton. Place can also have significant meaning for ordinary people. In writing Eat, Pray, and Love, place had a powerful meaning for Elizabeth Gilbert. After her divorce and a mid-life-crisis, Gilbert decided to travel for a year by herself in an effort to restore balance and meaning to her life. Her memoir chronicles the three places she visited: Rome, India, and Bali. Each of these places had significant meaning to herself and to her life. She wrote about this powerful meaning in her memoir.
Some creative nonfiction writers view place as character. In recreating the scene or experience, the writer views place as a character in the story. Similar to developing a character, the place needs to be developed. The writer can use personification to develop the place. It can become nurturing, menacing, foreboding.
Yet place is more than just character. It is also about meaning. A place or location often has significant meaning. We can associate a particular place with good memories or bad memories, as being a happy place or sad place, as being a relaxing place or stressful place.
Clearly, when a creative writer writes about place, the writer must consider more than just its physical attributes or location.
How to Write about Place
In writing about place, you ought to consider the following:
- Name of the place
- Location of the place
- Physical attributes
- Home as place
- Nature as place
- Travel as place
- Meaning the place has for you
- Significance of the place
When writing about place, you first need to consider its name. Where did the name of the place originate? What is its history? What does it symbolize? For example, the city of Toronto originated as the Mohawk phrase tkaronto, later modified by French explorers and map makers.
You also need to consider writing about the important features, amenities, and physical attributes of place. For instance, in writing about Toronto, you can consider writing about its multicultural population, sports teams, and public transit, shopping centers, unique neighborhoods, landmarks, popular attractions, and the fact that it is located on Lake Ontario.
A place can also be about “home.” You can begin by exploring the meaning of home. Home is suppose to be a place of escape, comfort, protection, love, stability, and permanence—even solitude. What does home mean to you? What was my home like as a child? What did a like or dislike about the place called home? What memories do you have about your childhood home? For some people, home is a transient place, especially for people who travel, who are new immigrants, who end marriages or relationships.
In writing about place, you can also consider it in relation to nature. In his memoir, “Waldon”, Henry David Thoreau viewed nature, wildlife, and the woods as having a being a special place. According to Brenda Miller, who wrote “Tell It Slant”, a popular creative nonfiction text, Thoreau viewed the “human consciousness moved through nature, observing it, reacting to it, and ultimately being transformed by it. Miller goes on to suggest that when you write about nature as place, you need to consider how nature embodies larger forces, such as the physical attributes of a person you admire or the human condition or human experience.
In writing about place as a traveler, don’t write what everyone else has written. Your purpose is to find “a purpose for your writing above and beyond the travel experience itself”. (Tell It Slant) To create a travel piece that is more than just about transcribing the experience, you need to consider the theme and the significant meaning of the place.
When writing about a particular place, you ought to consider what meaning the place has for you. You can start by ask yourself the following: What does this place mean to me? How do I feel about this particular place? Do I like it? What do I like about it? Do I dislike it? What do I dislike about it? What are my memories of this place? What favorite memories do I have about this place?
Tips for Writing about Place
When writing about place, you must be original. You must be able to write about place from a unique perspective.
- Describe the place as if it is a character in your story. What is its appearance? Its behaviour? What is the place saying to you?
- Use literary devices to describe the place, such as metaphors, personification, and simile.
- Describe the physical attributes of the place using sensory images. How does place smell, sound, taste, feel, and appear to you?
- Write about place as it means to you. Do you have fond memories of the place? What do you like or dislike about the place? What is important? What is insignificant about the place? How does the place feel to you?
- Write about the significance of place. What universal truth embodies the place?
- Write about what you have learned about the sense of place/location?
- Don’t use clichés or hackneyed expressions to describe a place.
- Use concrete and specific details. Remember as many significant details about place as you can.
The place or location of an event or experience can have many meanings. Place can be your home, a travel destination, or a walk in the woods. When writing about place, consider its name. Write about its physical attributes. Write about what the place means to you. Write about the significance of the place. Write about theme and universal truth as it applies to place. Write about place from your own unique perspective.
If you have any questions or comments, please post them to this blog.
Writing Paragraphs
Once you have decided on a lead, you can write the content of your essay or article. The content will be your facts, evidence, anecdotes, support, dialogue, and so forth. To present this information, you will use the organizational tool called “the paragraph.” Most creative nonfiction requires you to write content using paragraphs.
This article explains how to write a good paragraph for a personal essay, article, memoir, autobiography, or any other type of creative nonfiction.
Types of Paragraphs
What is a paragraph? It is a group of sentences that work together to develop a unit of thought. In other words, a paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic.
There are three types of paragraphs: topical, transitional, and dialogue. Most paragraphs are topical. A topical paragraph has a topical sentence, which states what the paragraph is about. It is followed by several sentences that provide support for the topical sentence.
A paragraph can also be transitional. A transitional paragraph helps you move from one paragraph to the next, or move from one idea to another idea.
A paragraph can also be based on dialogue. The rule for writing dialogue is that a new paragraph begins whenever the speaker changes.
Purpose
The purpose of your paragraph helps to determine its structure. Before writing, ask yourself: What do I want to say in this paragraph? You have four possibilities:
- Narration. You want to tell a story. When you want to tell a story, use the storytelling technique.
- Explain. You want to provide information about something. When you want to explain, use facts and evidence.
- Description. You want to describe something to your readers. When you want to describe, provide details.
- Persuasion. You want to convince your readers or change their opinion or point of view. When you want to persuade, use rhetorical devices.
Characteristics of a Good Paragraph
A good paragraph has the following characteristics:
- Unity. The paragraph has a topical sentence and supporting information in the body of the paragraph. Each sentence in the body of the paragraph must provide support for the topical sentence. The entire paragraph should concern itself with a single focus. If it begins with a one focus or major point of discussion, it should not end with another idea. The simple rule is: Use one paragraph for each new idea.
- Coherence. It is the trait that makes the paragraph easily understandable to a reader. There is a smooth flow or transition from one sentence to the next within the paragraph. You can help create coherence in your paragraphs by creating logical connections and verbal connections. To create a logical relationship, use the same idea from sentence to sentence. You can also use parallel structure. To create a verbal relationship, repeat key words, use pronoun reference, use transitional expressions.
- Development. Once you decide on the purpose of your paragraph, you need to determine which method of development you are going to use. There are several methods of development, including narration, description, process analysis, example, definition, cause and effect, comparison and contrast, and analogy.
In the next few posts, I will discuss how to write a unified paragraph, create coherence in a paragraph, and develop a paragraph using different methods.
If you have any questions or comments, please post them to this blog.
Writing the Lead and Ending
William Zinsser wrote in On Writing Well that “the most important sentence is the first one” when writing creative nonfiction or nonfiction. Your first sentence needs to grab the readers’ attention and compel them to read on.
Zinsser also wrote that good piece of creative nonfiction includes an ending that makes an important point, one that readers can think about after reading.
Whether you write a personal essay, memoir, or article, your piece of writing requires a lead at the beginning and an ending that makes an important point.
This article explains how to write a lead and ending.
Writing the Lead
What is the lead? It introduces your essay, memoir, or article. According to Zinsser, a good lead does the following:
- It grabs the reader’s attention and inspires the reader to read further. This is called a hook.
- It tells the reader why the piece was written.
- It tells the reader why he/she ought to read the article or essay.
There is no rule about the length of a lead. Some leads are short, only a few sentences. Some are only a sentence in length. Other leads are longer, taking several paragraphs. The length of your lead will depend on the type of genre and the audience you are writing for.
Methods of Writing a Lead
There are several methods to write your lead. Here are the most popular methods:
- Ask a question. Example: How can the federal government reduce unemployment?
- Make a thought-provoking statement. This type of lead makes begins with an important point. Example: The unemployment rate is 10%, the highest since the Great Depression.
- Write an anecdote. It is a short story that reveals a truth or makes an important point.
- Use a quotation. Write an interesting quotation from an interview or one that you discovered when you conducted research.
- Write a summary lead. It compresses the article or essay into a few sentences.
- Use a combination lead. This method requires you to use a couple of methods. For instance, you might begin with a question, and then add a quotation from a well-known person.
When writing your lead, you can also answer a few questions, such as:
- Who?
- What?
- When?
- Why?
- How?
Writing the Ending
Once you finish writing your essay or article, you require a good ending. In “On Writing Well”, William Zinsser writes the following: “Knowing when to end…is far more important than most writers realize. You should give as much thought to choosing your last sentence as you did to your first.”
A good ending is a sentence or two, or paragraph in length, but not any longer. A good lead should take the reader by surprise and seem like the correct place to stop.
How do you know when you are finished? Zinsser writes that when you are ready to stop, stop.
Here is how to write an ending:
- Don’t summarize your essay or article.
- Your ending should encapsulate the central idea of your essay or article.
- Your ending should finish with an important point. Otherwise the reader will think “So what? What was the point?”” Zinsser suggests that this sentence should jolt the reader with “unexpectedness.”
A popular way to end your piece is with a quotation. Another method is to restate the beginning. Other popular methods include:
- An opinion
- Judgement
- Recommendation
- Call to action
A good piece of creative nonfiction includes both a strong lead and close. Be sure to learn the ways to write a lead and ending. Then use them when you write.
For more advice on how to write creative nonfiction, you can read On Writing Well by William Zinsser.
Next, I will discuss writing style, as it applies to creative nonfiction.
If you have any questions or comments, please post them to this blog.
Personal Essay: Living in the Moment
This morning, in the Globe & Mail newspaper, I read a personal essay, “My Life with ALS”, by a 42 year old woman who has recently been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease.) after a successful career, marriage, and life that most us aspire to have. Her essay prompted me to write my own personal essay—- “Living in the Moment.”
Are you living your life moment by moment? Or are you immersed in the past or worrying about the future?
Life is not only a series of experiences, or milestones, or events, or happenings or accomplishments, it is also a series of moments. Frequently, We must live moment to moment, in order to survive. At least, I believe this to be true.
What happened yesterday might still haunt you or depress you, but it is in the past. The past cannot be changed. You only have this moment.
What can happen in the future might scare you, but it is only a thought. There is no guarantee that tomorrow will arrive. You only have this moment.
Each of us has a choice whether to live in this moment. It is a choice. Yet, too often we live our lives in autopilot, immersed in what seems important now, but really isn’t. There are so many things we waste our lives over to get ahead, to gain control, to find happiness, at the expense of what really counts—which is this moment, and only this moment.
Often we delude ourselves at the expense of enjoying this moment of time.
One of the most important decisions you can make and focus your time and energy is living in the present moment. What does this mean?
Living in the moment means that you must give up the past. It cannot be changed. Living in the moment means that you stop worrying about the future—as it is only a dream or part of your imagination. You often cannot control the future. Nor can you predict it, despite all the time and energy you give it. Furthermore, approximately 85% of what you worry about never becomes reality. So, let tomorrow take care of itself—and it will.
Living in the present moment means accepting that which cannot be changed and focusing on that which you can change and control. Yet, often we don’t know how or don’t have the insight.
Far too often we worry about things that are just not important. Or we become workaholics. Or we drink too much or eat too much, deluding ourselves that we will live the long life and maintain our good health. Or we become caught up in our lives at the expense of our relationships, family, and friends. Or we chase the career, fancy car, or big house…or whatever, and neglect the present moment.
Living in the present moment means that you become mindful of today. You experience what you are thinking and feeling and doing at this moment. You block what has occurred yesterday, and you refuse to dream about what might be.
Living in the present moment also means that you find a way to enjoy today. Often, it can mean this hour, or this minute, or these few moments of time. It might be a conversation with a good friend, or reading a good book, or taking a peaceful walk.
I have lost my health. The experience taught me to see that life and my health are precious. The experience also taught me that we often have no control over what will happen in our lives. And the experience taught me that I have control over only this moment of time, as I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, although I can plan for it.
I have also learned that most people take their health and their life for granted, assuming that good health and a long life will be theirs for the foreseeable future. And yet, this is often not so. Life is full of surprises. Adversity lurks continuously. It is an inevitable part of life. Just as death is inevitable. For most, it is a thief in the night, knocking at the door of life when a person least expects it. Therefore, it is important to live in the present moment.
Far to frequently, life surprises us with something that overwhelms us. Adversity strikes, catching us off guard, when we least expect it, such as a death, loss of job, illness, or an accident. Therefore, it is important to live in the present moment.
Living in the present moment doesn’t mean you live blissfully, neglecting your future. You still need to plan for the future by setting goals and by problem solving. Living in the present moment means that you choose to stop worrying about your future after you have set your goals. Worry is wasted energy.
Living in the present moment also assumes that when you experience a setback, you work at solving the problem.
Living in the present moment means that you let go of the past. Why dwell on something you cannot change? You cannot change the past—but you can learn from it. If you think about it, you only have this moment of time.
Living your life is also about living a balanced life—part work, part play, part social, part spiritual, and remembering that you have only got today—these moments.
Living in the present means that you count your blessings and savour the small joys of life.
If you are dwelling on the past or worried about the future, refocus your time and energy on the here and now. Learn to live in the present moment. Because all your really have is this moment of time.
If you have an opinion, please contact me at www.davehood59@gmail.com .
Find Your Creative Muse 