This introduction to creative nonfiction examines the building blocks of nonfiction prose one by one, illustrating how individual voice and narrative strategies delineate this literary form from conventional nonfiction. Individual chapters are devoted to detail and description, characterization and scene, distinctive voice, intimate point-of-view, and the various ways in which writers discover the significance or universality of their work. Essays from contemporary nonfiction writers such as Henry Louis Gates, Norma Elia Cantú, Pico Iyer, Joan Didion, and others are integrated directly into the text to illustrate concepts.
Additional resources on Nature Writing and Travel Writing are available here.
An Amazon Review from Adam C
November, 2011
“I just finished teaching a seminar to high school seniors about the art of the personal essay and Dinty Moore’s book was a godsend for them. He emphasizes a lot of terrific points in this book but what I focused on in my teaching was making your experiences the readers’ experiences. Without using esoteric language, Moore makes his perspective on the craft of creative nonfiction easy to understand and easily applicable in the classroom. The writing exercises he provides at the end of each chapter are also highly credible and I even use them to assist my writing. I simply can’t say enough good things about this book. Anyone interested in creative nonfiction, or simply creative writing, should have this on their shelves for reference.”