Is there a semi-non-fiction group?

My mother would say that no, it is either fiction or non-fiction. But what is it when you write humor based on truth but with a few white lies mixed in?

Tags: creative, fiction, humor, memoirs, non-fiction

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Permalink Reply by Irene Hodgson on April 24, 2012 at 7:31pm

Wouldn't that be called creative non-fiction? If not, how about Non-fiction with a tetch of humour and a smidgeon of white lies mixed in? Or, how about truth mixed with white lies and hammered together with a bit o'humour? Or...

Permalink Reply by Jody Worsham on April 24, 2012 at 9:33pm

Ok,exactly what is creative-non-fiction? That never worked as a teen ager when my mother would ask me what time I got home.

Permalink Reply by Jody Worsham on April 25, 2012 at 12:47pm

Sounds like me as a teenager telling my mother I got home a little after 11..and that was true (non-fiction) but sometimes it was a couple of hours after 11 making it "creative non-fiction". If my mother caught me, it was an out and out misrepresentation of the truth, a lie, even though it was true. (Sigh)

Permalink Reply by Rose A. Valenta on April 24, 2012 at 8:40pm

I like the way you think, Jody. I don't know what to call my satire either because I have to change all the real names to protect the guilty or risk being disowned. Maybe a Dragnet disclaimer? Then it would be creative non-fiction.

Permalink Reply by Jody Worsham on April 24, 2012 at 9:36pm

Sounds like creative non-fiction is fiction based on the truth, which then makes it fiction, right? Now I sound like a politician.

Permalink Reply by M.W. Sinclair on April 25, 2012 at 8:15am

I'd call Jody's example humor; to me that's a different category. Perhaps it's satire, it depends on the writing.

As for creative nonfiction, I think of it as largely essay form, though it often involves full-blown book-length work. Examples would include Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm. He obviously didn't interview the men who were lost on the ship, but he interviewed other swordfishermen and their families and the people involved with the company for which the Andrea Gale sailed. He interviewed people on the rescue ships. He spoke with capatains who'd been in touch with the Andrea Gale during the storm. He created the account based on that. He did the strong reporting you expect of a journalist, but a purist wouldn't call it nonfiction because there's a lot of speculation within the story. Gripping stuff. Creative nonfiction.

Permalink Reply by Irene Hodgson on April 25, 2012 at 9:43am

I googled creative non-fiction and Wikipedia says:

Creative nonfiction may be structured like traditional fiction narratives, as is true of Fenton Johnson's story of love and loss, "Geography of the Heart," and Virginia Holman's "Rescuing Patty Hearst." When book-length works of creative nonfiction follow a story-like arc, they are sometimes called narrative nonfiction. Creative nonfiction often escapes traditional boundaries of narrative altogether, as happens in the bittersweet banter of Natalia Ginzburg's essay, "He and I," in John McPhee's hypnotic tour of Atlantic City, "In Search of Marvin Gardens," and in Ander Monson's playful, experimental essays in "Neck-Deep and Other Predicaments."

Does the above help?

Permalink Reply by Rose A. Valenta on April 25, 2012 at 9:53am

If you can categorize Erma Bombeck's "At Wit's End" and other books as creative nonfiction, then that includes satire and humor writing. Yes, it helps. Thank you.

Permalink Reply by Jody Worsham on April 25, 2012 at 12:26pm

I think I get bogged down when there isn't a category for humor. What I write is based on truh, it really happened but I exaggerate in places and attribute lines that weren't actually said. Being a honest person at heart, I don't want to misrepresent anybody. Thanks. So new to this thing called writing.

Permalink Reply by Jody Worsham on April 25, 2012 at 12:38pm

Yes, I think so. I mean I know when I have something totally made up and when I have something made up based on a true incident. I just don't know what it is when I write a 98% true story with 2% exaggeration. I'll check out the sources you referenced. Thanks.

Permalink Reply by jeff herman on April 25, 2012 at 11:39am

Speaking as an agent, if you have to over-explain a category, then you have a problem, which can also be an opportunity. Under current structures, everything is either fiction or non-fiction, even when not exactly either. When you jump beyond set structures you risk causing confusion, which in turn can cause people to move on.

Permalink Reply by Jody Worsham on April 25, 2012 at 12:29pm

I thought all fiction writing had to be creative. I mean, you are creating the story. How could you write a fiction piece that was true? If it were true, it wouldn't be fiction. I need some chocolate.