The Truth

People have asked why I tell the truth about myself… I’ve finally found my answer: Why not?

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. –Ernest Hemingway

Most writers rely on their memories, experiences and emotions–at least in a first draft, the floodgates open and the words flow out. This is true of all writing, but writers often disguise themselves by creating fictional characters or by altering the outcomes/setting/scenario to benefit the story—and the ego. If I am completely honest, I’d say that my most vivid fiction comes from the seeds of experience.

I write fiction to escape the truth–or to entertain myself and other. I’ve come to realize that, although it is so much more difficult, there is a deeper beauty in writing down the truth–I also get closure with the story I could never get by fictionalizing “what really happened.”

Pinholes of Light is an example of memoir writing that gave me closure—no more recurring nightmares of being trapped under that grain bin.

Can you explain CNF to me, Rach?

Sure. I’m actually glad you asked. Everyone understands that nonfiction means truth-telling—and we think academic writing, technical writing and journalism. Now, add the creative aspect. Yep—basically you’ve got the truth, but with literary style and techniques that reads more like fiction.

I will borrow the words of Lee Gutkind, who describes CNF as “true stories well told.” (He also happens to be the father of CNF who founded the magazine Creative Nonfiction.)

“In some ways, creative nonfiction is like jazz—it’s a rich mix of flavors, ideas, and techniques, some of which are newly invented and others as old as writing itself. Creative nonfiction can be an essay, a journal article, a research paper, a memoir, or a poem; it can be personal or not, or it can be all of these.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Have you written much CNF, Rach?

Yep…here are some links for you. (And I’ve got another piece coming out pretty soon–yay!)

Pinholes of Light

My Mother’s Teeth

The Gods, Looking Down

Soap Opera, Starring Rachel Kim 

Amazing Course Offering…

Speaking of my own CNF, I just completed an amazing course offered by Nicole Breit called Creative Nonfiction Outliers. I highly recommend this course to anyone interested in exploring less traditional forms of CNF.

(I still don’t get why you’d wanna write about yourself…)

With memoir, you bleed and admit it is you who is bleeding all over the page, in front of everyone. I can help someone face their own truths, and I’ve automatically hit two birds with one stone because it’s also the best therapy for closure.

In Why We Write About Ourselves: Twenty Memoirists on Why They Expose Themselves (and Others) in the Name of Literature, Nick Flynn writes:

I try to come to the edge of what I know and push a little further over that edge. I think that any topic or scene or action that elicits any of the lesser emotions—shame, guilt, humiliation, etc.—is likely where the good stuff is lurking. I try to go there, and I try to bring the reader along on the journey.

If you’re interested in reading more about why writers write nonfiction, I highly recommend Why We Write About Ourselves by Meredith Maran.

Oh, and FYI–I’ll be writing a lot of CNF next month!

Remember how I wrote 30 short stories for NaNoWriMo in November? Well, for Camp NaNoWriMo (April), I will be attempting to write 30 CNF pieces. Wish me luck!

In the meantime, check out this amazing online magazine:

http://brevitymag.com