What is Creative NON-Fiction?

Creative Non-Fiction defines this category of writing as ‘true stories well told’. And this is an apt description as you’ll find.

Non-fiction, at its core, is simply facts. It becomes creative non-fiction when you inject a story with energy, character, and personality. For example, describing a trip as a narrative, writing about a real travel experience as though it were fiction.

Good creative non-fiction is making your audience engage with your stories as though they’re reading something make-believe, instilling your personal voice into an otherwise factual description.

Describing the sensations and feelings when writing a real experience brings a story to life, and creative non-fiction is just like writing a fictional story, but using real events and experiences as the basis is what makes creative non-fiction so gripping. This means that while your information must remain true, you can describe the people, setting, narrative and more with techniques you would in fiction. There are many literary techniques you can employ to make your writing engaging and entertaining, from the simpler metaphors and similes to more sophisticated techniques such as euphemism and humour.

Perhaps you have a poignant memory that plays out as a narrative in your head, such as your first day of university or a significant trip where a whole heap of stories unfolded. Try crafting these into a story the same way you would a fiction. Keep your facts true and don’t mess with the narrative by trying to make it more interesting – non-fiction has to be real – but unleash your creative flair to bring your story to life and make it entertaining.

With this being said, creative non-fiction isn’t limited to these stories injected with pizzazz. Memoirs, for example, or monologues, describing your thoughts and feelings with energy and personality, is another way you can fill your non-fiction with creativity. Blog posts are a great example of creative non-fiction; getting your thoughts down on paper with your personality at its heart is what creative non-fiction is all about. Travel writing is also a fun and engaging way to turn your real life adventures into a gripping, tale-twisting narrative readers can enjoy.

If you fancy giving creative non-fiction a go, send anything you write our way to hello@foreverendeavour.uk. If you need some more inspiration and motivation to get started, below are some best-selling non-fiction books to show you what it’s all about.

This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor – Adam Kay*

Everything I Know About Love – Dolly Alderton*

Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and Other Lies) – Scarlett Curtis *

Read some creative non-fiction right here on Forever Endeavour, too, here.