I’ve always struggled with this art form, thinking that the only way to write an essay was in chronological order and with a thesis statement much like the ones my high school teachers expected from us. But creative nonfiction is much more than that, and in my opinion, it’s more difficult to execute it well than writing fiction! Learning that you can use literary devices found in fiction to strengthen an essay had made the process much less daunting for me now.
There are many topics that arise time and time again in creative nonfiction—personal relationships, parenting, health issues, death, family members with memory loss, love, trauma, cultural observations, lifestyle choices, and much more. But it’s the way you execute these themes that really make a piece stand out.
One essay idea has been nagging me for a while, and yesterday I sat down to finally write a first draft. I’ve been trying to process something that happened in my neighborhood this past year, where a couple were arrested and charged with neglect in abuse of their 1-year-old daughter (they also had two other children at the time). I wove in heartbreaking lines from the initial news reports, like “Medical reports said that the child had a bruised head, protruding ribs, abrasions on her genitals and a sour smell.” Interspersed with these details, I shared the thoughts and feelings that we as a collective neighborhood felt, knowing the children were living in a volatile domestic household in the months leading up to the arrests:
“We knew it wasn’t a good situation. But we also tried to mind our own business, because you never know what is really going on behind closed doors. Unfortunately, we should have paid more attention, because we really didn’t know what was going on behind those closed doors.”
Writing this first draft was cathartic, and helped me get out of the writing “funk” I’ve been in. I have another essay idea I want to tackle, too, that’s more of a revision of an existing piece, and it includes a possible experience with what I believe was a guardian angel.
Writing is such a big part of my life that I can’t envision ever giving it up, but I believe it’s a good idea for us to take breaks or switch gears occasionally. For me right now, that means more reading books for pleasure and working on something outside of my normal scope of work.
What helps you when you require a change of pace with your writing? Do you prefer fiction or nonfiction?
Renee Roberson is an award-winning writer who also produces the true crime podcast, Missing in the Carolinas. She’s currently seeking representation for a novel about, what else? A podcaster trying to solve a mystery. Learn more at www.FinishedPages.com and www.MissingintheCarolinas.
0 comments:
Post a Comment