Writing

Today, my friend and fellow writer Pat and I went to a presentation at the Chicago Cultural Arts Festival. The discussion was with Justin Torres who wrote We The Animals. Hearing him talk about his work of fiction caused me to think about myself as a writer and what I believe to be true about myself when it comes to my writing.

I am more of a memoirist than anything. Most of my stories are true although some embellishment of the details may help fill out the stories where my memory fails me.

For me, making up a story is the farthest from what I want to do when I feel  I have so many of my own stories to tell and isn't recounting and/or explaining life a series of Story Telling Experiences?

Saying this makes me feel like I may sound vain and a little self important, but far from that when I explain that I have always compared Fiction Writers to God while Memoirists are just  Story Tellers.

To create a uniquely new, previously non-existant life from bits and pieces of one's experience and lots of research; a life with beginnings, middles, and ends; a life with colors and nuances, joys and sorrows, celebrations and tragedies; is more like an act of God creating the world in six days and resting on the seventh.

The Memoirist's job is to retell his stories in a way that is interesting, engaging, humorous, at times not so funny; all added to other possible descriptors. There may be red herrings, plot twists, flash-backs, and other surprises. The stories can sound like fiction but they are not. The line between the two styles of literature is thin and I can see where the two may easily cross at times.

When I asked Mr. Torres to talk about how much of his book is about him even though it is a work of fiction, when compared to a memoirist who shares his real life experiences with possibly some embellishment, he felt my use of the word embellishment was a strange choice. I do not think so.

I think he skirted the issue on what is the definition and interpretation of Fiction vs Memoirs to which I will add, possibly the definition of the newer genre of Creative Non-Fiction.

Fiction is defined as literature in the form of prose, esp. short stories and novels, that describes imaginary events and people.

Memoirs is a historical account or biography written from personal knowledge or special sources. 

Creative Non-Fiction writing, which I sometimes more easily refer to as Memoirs (but also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction,) interestingly takes many more words to define. 

It is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts with other nonfiction, such as technical writing or journalism, which is also rooted in accurate fact, but is not primarily written in service to its craft. 

As a genre, creative nonfiction is still relatively young, and is only beginning to be scrutinized with the same critical analysis given to fiction and poetry.

P.S. Poetry is my second form of literary expression! Interesting.