Nonfiction Rules

I wrote this awhile ago, but caught up with other work. Written for a friend who dissed nonfiction, decided I would also share it with you guys too.

Here are the list of personal nonfiction rules:

1. Do not lie.

            So it is a bit weird that I have to say this, but never lie, especially in non-fiction. Even in our most fantastical fiction realms we base some of what happens within the story context on reality. Sometimes this even involves real people, but since it is fiction you can manipulate certain elements.

            You cannot do this in non-fiction. Do not embellish, do not fabricate, do not make shit up. If there are details you cannot remember, do not make those details up. At a funeral if you cannot remember if your cousin wore a green or red mini-skirt, say it is a mini-skirt. There is a way though to recover details like that, which leads me to my next point.

2.  Check your sources

            We forget things. That’s alright. In non-fiction everything you write is in the past. Not all of us have photographic memories. There are always people around us. Rarely do we witness events or experiences without some other source to back up that experience. Whether it be other people, videotape, newspapers, etc. there are other ways than your own mind to check your memories.

3. Don’t be afraid to reveal yourself

            Nonfiction is based in diaries and historical text at its’ base. It is also a revolt against the usual fictional text where facts are not needed. Facts in fiction are based on the world you create, Nonfiction is a text in which to challenge perceptions of the line between fact and fiction. What you are presenting when writing a memoir, journalistic piece or what have you, is an investigation into something unknown. Mostly the unknown is yourself.

            Nobody knows you better than you. Be aware of yourself and how you interact with your world. Do not be afraid to reveal too much. It is hard to reveal our innermost flaws or even our triumphs. Especially for women, celebrating our accomplishments is gloating. We are only allowed to wallow in our failures, albeit as humans we have many failures.

            Do not be afraid to discuss everything. Talk about that time you feel out of the canoe! You really stared into the abyss when you went hiking? Someone did that? Wow and in public?

            Leave your readers wanting to know more about you. Do not let them pity you, let them celebrate cry, laugh, with you. This is the same with fiction except with this medium you have somewhat more to lose than others. You are revealing yourself. Do not be afraid of what you lose, but what you gain.

4. Nonfiction is not a confessional or a rant

            Never manipulate the reader into liking you. Write non-fiction because you want to relate to the reader or to enlighten another. Do not use it to illicit pity. Do not use it to bad mouth others unless you are Oscar Wilde. He could bad mouth anyone and make it eloquent. Follow that.

            Confessional writing is more getting something off your chest rather than relating to the reader. These are both selfish in that they are not for the reader. They are for yourself.  Unless you want to do that and you are a stand-up comedian.

5. Don’t just write about yourself

            Okay so this somewhat contradicting my previous points. It sounds like I am recommending abandoning everything I just said. Let me backtrack.

            Nonfiction is based in the personal experience but some people affect so much we are able to write stories about them.  I have written stories about my mother, friends and sometimes even people I have never met. All these people have personal connections with me. These people are important enough for me to write about them at extent. One of the most famous nonfiction is Joan Didion’s “To Muhammad on the Mountain” about hippies in the 1960s. She rarely talks about herself in the story, rather she speaks to the hippie lifestyle she is surrounded by in San Francisco.

            There is the issue in this of writing about someone you have never met. Research, research, research. Get to know the subject better through self-reflection. Make sure the reader knows why this person you have never met is so important to you. The same goes with an acquaintance or family member.

6.  Have meaning.

            Okay so this one has weird because it is the greatest struggle of the writer to create meaning in the piece. What I mean by this is the ultimate ‘why?’ of any piece. Why does this need to be written? Why should I read it?

            It is especially difficult in nonfiction to create the ‘why?’ since people are more suspicious of nonfiction. Why should you talk about your life? Why is the just as important as being transported to a new world? Why should I read someone else’s boring life?

            Make sure when you are writing nonfiction, it has meaning. Do not blather on about your shopping trip and how boring it is. Why is it boring? What is your relationship to food? There is no clear answer to this question rather than ask questions on the impetus of the storyline, but most of all be creative.

7. Just because this is nonfiction, does not mean you lose creativity.

            An example of the array of the nonfiction I have written:

            WAR OF THE WORLDS (A series of essays based on HG Wells stories about my desires of space travel and connectivity with my sci fi obsessed family)

            THIS CRUEL BODY (About the migraine disorder that stole my mother from my childhood)

            GOODBYE LESLIE, I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU (Novella about the suicide of my best friend and our love for a Canto-pop singer who also committed suicide)

            MY FIRST KISS (Humorous poems on my first times in life)

            As you can see, nonfiction has not stifled my creativity at all. What it has done is challenged my narrative style. Science fiction is my other writing medium. These two seem so far away from each other but I have employed more of the science fiction language into nonfiction pieces than others. It is important to not just stick to all the formats you have usually seen with regular nonfiction.

            Essay is the only stylistic base you need for nonfiction. Loosely essay is a narrative or series of thoughts. At bare bones you can do whatever you want. Do not restrict yourself! Nonfiction is fun and not as full of tears as you would think!

Other than that go forth and prosper!