Writing Creative Nonfiction

Creative Nonfiction blends elements of fiction and essay. It is a perfect medium for students who wish to write about their own lives in ways that will be compelling for other readers. Like fiction writers, we will work on building interesting stories out of our own experiences, with attention to striking details, characterization, and effective pacing.  Like essayists, we will also attempt to interpret our experience and draw lessons from it.  We will use the workshop method in our class: students will bring in their own work and we will read it and critique it. Depending on class size, each student will be expected to submit original work two to three times over the course of the session. We will also read a range of published creative nonfiction, to get a sense for the possibilities of the form.