The Nonfictionist's Guide: On Reading and Writing Creative Nonfiction » (1st Edition)

As a vital and growing literary genre, nonfiction impacts bestseller lists, writing programs, writersO workshops, and academic conferences on creative writing, composition/rhetoric, and literature. In a lively exploration of its poetics, The NonfictionistOs Guide examines the elements of contemporary nonfiction and suggests imaginative approaches to writing it. Beginning with a new definition of nonfiction and explanation of the nonfiction motive, Robert Root guides both readers and writers through the innovative and stimulating ways we write nonfiction now.

Preface

Acknowledgments

1 The Nature of Nonfiction 1

Notes for Nonfictionists: Last Words First 14

2 Not the Design of the Author 19

Notes for Nonfictionists: The Design of the Author 26

3 The Experimental Art 29

Notes for Nonfictionists: Experimenting 38

4 The Art of Seeing 43

Notes for Nonfictionists: Seeing 60

5 Collage, Montage, Mosaic, Vignette, Episode, Segment 65

Notes for Nonfictionists: Segmenting 82

6 This is What the Spaces Say 85

Notes for Nonfictionists: Structure 88

7 Immediacy 95

Notes for Nonfictionists: Immediacy 112

8 Distance 117

Notes for Nonfictionists: Distance 130

9 Writing by Ear 135

Notes For Nonfictionists: Writing By Ear 150

10 Place 155

Notes for Nonfictionists: Place 170

11 Truth 177

Notes for Nonfictionists: Truth 192

12 Last Words Last 197

Notes for Nonfictionists: Last Words for Readers 198

Notes for Nonfictionists: Last Words for Writers 200

Notes and References 203

Index 217

About the Author 223