1. THE BASICS OF CREATIVE NONFICTION
By Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, Ph.D.

2. WHAT IS CREATIVE WRITING?
Creative writing is different from the scholarly type of writing used for research papers or the argumentative type of writing used for position papers.

3. Creative writing is writing intended primarily as imaginative self- expression, although in the best literature, self-expression is not the sole aim.

4. HOW DOES ONE BECOME A CREATIVE WRITER?
FIRST, ONE BECOMES A READER.
“READ FOR PLEASURE… READ BOOKS YOU’D LIKE TO WRITE. IF YOU WANT TO WRITE LITERATURE, READ LITERATURE. WRITE BOOKS YOU’D LIKE TO READ. FOLLOW YOUR OWN WEIRDNESS.”
- Annie Dillard, “Notes for Young Writers,” In Fact: the Best of Creative Nonfiction (2005)

5. SECOND, ONE LEARNS TO THINK LIKE A WRITER.
“TO THINK LIKE A WRITER IS TO LEARN TO BE ALWAYS CURIOUS, TO REACT TO ANY EVENT WITH ONE OR MORE QUESTIONS.”
- James B. Stewart, Follow the Story: How to Write Successful Nonfiction (1998)

6. “The essence of thinking like a writer is the recognition that what’s most interesting is what’s unknown, not what is known. Thinking like a writer prizes the question more than the answer. It celebrates paradox, mystery, and uncertainty, recognizing that all of them contain the seeds of the potential story.”
- Stewart

7. HOW DOES ONE BEGIN TO WRITE?
BEGIN WITH A TOPIC.
A topic is not an idea.
WHEN YOU SAY “I WANT TO DO A STORY ABOUT LOOKING FOR A JOB,” WHAT YOU HAVE IS A TOPIC, NOT AN IDEA.

8. TURN THE TOPIC INTO AN IDEA.
THIS IS AN IDEA:
IS IT STILL POSSIBLE IN MANILA TO GET A GOOD JOB WITHOUT A COLLEGE DEGREE?

9. WHERE DOES ONE FIND IDEAS?
direct observation or experience
other observers or participants -– “sources”
published accounts

10. AN EXAMPLE: TOPIC: BAGUIO
IDEA: OVER THE YEARS, BAGUIO HAS BECOME MORE THAN A SUMMER RESORT. IT HAS BECOME A CENTER FOR THE ARTS.

11. HOW DOES ONE DEVELOP AN IDEA?
ALTERNATIVES:
AS POEM
AS STORY: FICTION
AS CREATIVE NONFICTION
ESSAY
NARRATIVE

12. WHAT IS CREATIVE NONFICTION?

13. CREATIVE NONFICTION
(SOMETIMES JUST CALLED
“NONFICTION”) IS ALL LITERARY
PROSE THAT IS NOT FICTION.

14. “Creative Nonfiction heightens the whole concept and idea of essay writing. It allows a writer to employ the diligence of a reporter, the shifting voices and viewpoints of a novelist, the refined wordplay of a poet and the analytical modes of the essayist.”
– Lee Gutkind [ atiscnf.htm]

15. “It is a more imaginative way of reporting.”
- Theodore Rees Cheney, Writing Creative Nonfiction (1991)

16. The exciting thing is the immense possibilities of the genre
The exciting thing is the immense possibilities of the genre. It embraces the dispatches of war correspondents and interview stories, as well as journal entries, profiles, biographies, autobiographies, the travel essays found in the National Geographic and the reveries or impressionistic meditations of Virginia Woolf.

17. TYPES OF CREATIVE NONFICTION
At one end of the spectrum – literary journalism or new journalism
At the other end – literary memoir
In between – interview story, feature article, review, newspaper column, essay, personal narrative, travel essay, profile, biography, autobiography, memoir, diary/journal, etc.

18. HOW DOES ONE DEVELOP AN IDEA? (CONT.)
Questions to ask before deciding on a topic to write about:
What unique qualities do I bring to this?
What about my experience might interest someone else?

19. What about my experience do I myself find puzzling, and what might I better understand given additional reflection and research?

20. HOW DOES ONE DEVELOP AN IDEA? (cont)
GATHERING INFORMATION
Effective writing is always backed up by thorough information gathering. In literary journalism, writing and reporting are part of the same process.

21. Even memoirs require research or information gathering which goes beyond what one remembers.

22. HOW DOES ONE DEVELOP AN IDEA? (cont.)
REVIEWING THE STRATEGIES (TECHNIQUES) OF CREATIVE NONFICTION

23. TONE AND VOICE
STRUCTURE
PLOT
SCENES
APPROACH AND POINT OF VIEW
CHARACTER
CONCRETE AND EVOCATIVE DETAIL
STYLE

25. HOW DOES ONE EVALUATE ONE’S WORK?
SO IS THAT WHAT GOOD WRITING IS?
NOT QUITE. NEITHER TONS OF INFORMATION, NOR CLEVERNESS, NOR STYLE… ARE ENOUGH.
MORE IMPORTANT IS INSIGHT.

26. HOW DOES ONE EVALUATE ONE’S WORK? (cont.)
IS IT INTERESTING AND ENGAGING? IS IT EMOTIONALLY POWERFUL?

27. WILL THE READER HAVE GAINED SOMETHING FROM READING THE WORK
WILL THE READER HAVE GAINED SOMETHING FROM READING THE WORK? WHAT IS ITS POINT? WHAT IS THE AUTHOR’S INSIGHT INTO THE EXPERIENCE OR INTO THE HUMAN CONDITION?

28. EXAMPLES OF CNF BOOKS
A-SIDE / B-SIDE
Vlad Bautista Gonzales

29. And the Geek shall Inherit the Earth
Carljoe Javier

30. Isang Napakalaking Kaastigan
Vlad Bautista Gonzales

31. Oh My Gosh!
The Incredible Lightness of Being Burgis!
By April Timbol Yap Oh

32. CONCLUSION
“It is my belief that education should be a nourishing place for the heart and soul as well as the mind, and it should build confidence, not destroy it. How do we help our students draw on their own resources, not just acquired knowledge? The teaching of creative nonfiction can validate the students’ current lives, and strengthen their writing skills.” - Natalia Rachel Singer, “Nonfiction in First Person, Without Apology,” The Best Writing on Writing . Ed. Jack Hefron (1994)

33. BUT BEFORE YOU CAN BEGIN TO TEACH YOUR STUDENTS TO WRITE, YOU MUCT WRITE YOURSELF.
AND A GOOD PLACE TO BEGIN IS WITH CREATIVE NONFICTION.

34. THANK YOU