REVIEW: YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP
AUTHOR: Lee Gutkind
For
anyone who doubts the maxim that truth is stranger than fiction, I suggest you
read this book. It will put all doubt about that idea to rest.
If
you are a creative writer, one of the great things about this book is that it
empowers you. Non-fiction writing need not be dry and nothing but facts. In
fact, writing the truth (in story form) has attained the status of a genre:
creative non-fiction.
Lee
Gutkind provides many excellent examples of great memoir and journalistic
writing that fits the genre. For fiction writers, creative non-fiction provides
yet another direction in which to focus one’s energies. Why make up a plot when
you can craft an amazing story around actual events?
However,
for those who might be interested in this form, be aware that creative
non-fiction is not just making things up. It’s more like telling true stories
with a storytelling arc imposed. Plus the level of detail that pulls the reader
into the story.
It
can also be a time-consuming pursuit, particularly if you decide to “embed”
yourself in a group or situation you’re writing about. Such creative
non-fiction requires a period of osmosis during which writers can soak up the
details needed to properly embellish their work.
