Writer’s Statement

What’s the meaning of creative nonfiction?

How does this genre of writing apply to me as a student?

Why is it necessary for college students to take a course centered around writing creative nonfiction?

            Many a time throughout the beginning of this creative nonfiction writing class did I ask myself these questions. I would often sit and ponder why I was taking a class solely dedicated to creative nonfiction. I would often think:

Why is this relevant?

Is this a waste of my time?

I was unaware of the prevalence of this genre of writing, and how greatly it could impact my outlook on writing as well. In the beginning of this course, we were prompted to write about a time in our lives where something happened to us that illustrates us as a person. At first I found this prompt slightly unusual. Never before had I been encouraged to write about myself in a college writing class before. I was still stuck in the cookie cutter MLA, APA, five paragraph essay format that was dry and painful to write. I wasn’t sure how to write about myself in a formal way, let alone pick a special time in my life to write about for this particular topic. After several hours of slight procrastination, and some in depth thinking, I finally settled on a topic for this prompt, I then struggled with how to write such an essay. We were given guidelines that were extremely helpful in the writing process. However, I was still uncertain of my writing abilities at this point. It was still the beginning of the semester and I was very doubtful of my writing ability. I lacked the confidence to write effortlessly, and I constantly questioned whether or not my work was good enough. However, as I finally began to write that first prompt, I felt somewhat elated. I was actually enjoying the writing process. However, I had yet to be intently informed of the mechanics and meaning of creative nonfiction as a genre. Yet, I felt a slight confidence in my writing. However, soon into my fourth paragraph I began to lose sight of my objective. I became overwhelmed and certain that I didn’t know what I was doing. I tried my best to complete my first essay and reluctantly submitted the assignment.

After the submission of my first assignment, I began work on the second writing assignment for the week which was the first of many reflect forums. I was more intrigued by this writing assignment due to the fact that we would be learning more about the genre of creative nonfiction. I wanted to know more about this type of writing. How is it done best? How do you go about writing in such a way? Does the creative aspect of the writing take away from the factual portion of the writing? I had so many questions that floated around in my mind as I began divulging into our class book Creating Nonfiction, A Guide and Anthology, written by Becky Bradway and Doug Hesse. For this reflect forum, we were prompted to write about how the readings reinforce, expand, or complicate our understanding of creative nonfiction. Knowing very little about this genre of writing, I knew that the readings would do little to reinforce my understanding of this topic. However, I was intrigued to have my understanding expanded throughout the readings. According to Creating Nonfiction, I found that creative nonfiction is a term for fact-based writing with literacy qualities. (Creating Nonfiction, pg. 3) I also read that the goal of creative nonfiction is to make nonfiction stories read like fiction so that your readers are as interested by fact as they are fantasy. (Creating Nonfiction, pg. 4) I found these two bits of information intriguing and informative. As I completed the readings for this particular week, I began to grow in confidence, for I had learned what it meant to write creative nonfiction and how that correlated to other genres of writing as well.

Over the course of the next several weeks, my confidence in writing creative nonfiction began to grow further and further. I began to feel excited to write about experiences in my life, and I found that by writing about these said experiences, I was actually able to relive these wonderful memories. I had known that writing had the power to transport the audience back to another time in a person’s life. However, I had never written passionately enough to realize that this could happen to me as I wrote about these past experiences, too. I was most fortunate to reflect back on the wonderful memories of my family and me. I loved writing about the relationship my dad and I had bonding over the simple game of football in my first forum posting of the class, or how wonderful a stay at home mother my mom was, written several weeks later for the class. These fond memories I have are ones that I will cherish for a life time, and it was such a wonderful experience to write about the strong relationships I have. Not only was I able to write about the wonderful experiences I have had throughout my life, but throughout this class, we were also encouraged to write about more emotional events, good or bad. In one of my write forums, I chose to write about how I felt as though I didn’t fit in at my school because of the clothes I wore. I had a very quirky sense of style when I was younger, and I was ridiculed for it. However, I found my way, and realized that how you choose to present yourself and dress is up to you, and if dressing eccentrically makes you happy, than by all means dress that way. Writing about this time in my life brought back many different memories, good and bad. However, it was so rewarding to reflect back on those memories. Another memory I chose to write about was one in which I struggled with anxiety. I wrote about my trouble with anxiety and my fear of going to a new school. However, I wrote about how I was able to overcome my anxiety through the power of reading. I read a plethora of books to alleviate my anxiety and take me to another place, and over time, I found that reading wasn’t just an escape from my worries; it was also a great way for me to cope with them as well.

Not only was I given several different writing assignments each week in this class, but I was also prompted to revise and expand several of those writing assignments for major projects in this class. Using the constructive criticism and positive comments from my classmates and professor, I was able to revise my writing and strengthen it even further. I was concerned that these major projects would pose a greater challenge than expected. However, I found that these projects were extremely rewarding, and they allowed me to learn from my own writing as well.

Over the course of the semester in this creative nonfiction writing class, my confidence grew, as well as my knowledge of this genre. I was able to create pieces based on travel, people, as well as cities. I learned how to write travel pieces, and biography type pieces, as well as city/destination pieces. All of which were immensely enjoyable to write and learn about as well. Then, during the final portion of the class, we were prompted to write several different reflection pieces regarding metacognition, all of which were based on several different readings. Throughout my readings, I found that: “Writing is closely linked to reading, and some research in writing instruction resembles work on metacognition and reading.” (Pg. 94) I found this fascinating, and it only strengthened my knowledge regarding this topic.

For my final reflection based piece in this class, I was prompted to reflect on this creative nonfiction class as a whole. I found this prompt to be the most rewarding to write about as it gave me the opportunity to look back on all of the hard work I did in this class and appreciate it once more. This assignment allowed me to look over each of my forum postings, read what my classmates had to say about my writing, as well as professor. It was so enjoyable and helpful to have my professor and peers read over my work and give me their thoughts on my writing, and having the opportunity to re-read over these comments only increased my confidence in writing. Looking back on the constructive criticisms, as well as positive comments I received on my writing, I was able to dig deeper and really think about what I wanted my writing to look like. I was able to think about how I could make a piece even better, and I was encouraged to write again based on these comments.

Overall, I have enjoyed this class immensely, and it has given me a new outlook on the writing process as a whole. I have a new found confidence in my writing, and I feel as though I can write with more strength and accuracy than ever before. I feel ready to take on any other writing classes that I may have in my future as a college student, and I know that whatever the writing assignment may entail, I will be sure to look back on this class, and remember all of the valuable information I have been taught regarding the art of writing creative nonfiction.