creative nonfiction essay ideas

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50 Creative Nonfiction Prompts Guaranteed to Inspire

But not to worry. I present one whole hefty list of prompts just for creative nonfiction writers.

One small note before you dive in: don’t be afraid to mix and match the prompts. Each suggestion was meant to highlight a specific line of inspiration. There is absolutely no reason that two or three of these can’t be explored within one piece.

In fact, just use my tiny suggestions as springboards. Good luck!

1. Explore a scene or story from your memory by reimagining it from an alternate perspective. Write the event from the point of view of a passing bystander, another person close to the event, a pet, or even an inanimate object. When choosing your narrator, pay attention to how objective they would have been, what they would have paid attention to, and what sort of background knowledge they would have had about the scene.

2. Tell the nonfiction story that you don’t want your mother to read. You know the one. Don’t censor yourself.

3. Recall a moment in which you felt a strong spiritual or unidentifiable energy. Describe the scene in vivid detail, with special attention to the senses. Connect that scene to your relationship with your own religious beliefs or lack thereof. Examine how you incorporated that experience into your worldview.

4. Create a timeline of events depicting your life by using newspaper headlines. Try to focus on events that didn’t involve you directly, but connect them to the pivotal events in your life.

5. Tell the story of one of your family holiday gatherings. Identify any of your family’s common trademarks, such as your one aunt that seems to tell the same joke at every Christmas, or your two uncles that always hide from the rest of the family by doing the dishes. Explore how you are linked within this family dynamic, and how these little quirks evolved and changed over the years.

6. Tell the story of a location. Possibly one that is very close to your heart that you already know well, or a new one that inspires your curiosity. Pay particular attention to your own connection to the location, however small or large that connection may be.

7. Choose a location that you’ve come to know as an adult. Compare how you interact with this setting now to how you interacted with similar settings when you were a child. How has your perspective changed?

8. Describe a time in which you expected or wanted to feel a religious or spiritual moment, but couldn’t. What were you hoping would happen? How do you choose to interpret that?

9. Recall a key lesson that parents or family members tried to impart onto you as a child. For example: “live with a healthy mind and healthy body,” or “put others before yourself.” Revisit that lesson as an adult and connect it to how you have come to interpret it as you grew up or in your adult life. Feel free to pick a less serious lesson and have a little bit of fun with it.

10. Revisit a special birthday from when you were younger. Describe specific details, with emphasis upon the senses. Now that you have years of context, how do you feel about what your parents and family did or did not do for you? What does that event mean to you now?

11. Choose an event in your life that someone else remembers differently. Describe both memories and debate the differences. Who do you think is right? Why do you think you remember it differently?

12. Choose a strong emotion and think of two memories associated with it. What are the links between those two memories?

13. Think of a lesson you learned recently and apply it to a memory. How would your behavior have changed if you had applied the lesson back then?

14. Choose a commonplace or otherwise unremarkable memory and describe it in the most dramatic and absurd way possible. For inspiration, I’m leaving you with some quotes from Douglas Adams. “The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.” “He leant tensely against the corridor wall and frowned like a man trying to unbend a corkscrew by telekinesis.” “It was a deep, hollow malevolent voice which sounded like molten tar glurping out of a drum with evil on its mind.”

15. Have you seen those bizarre Illuminati videos in which some automated voice tries to prove that Arch Duke Ferdinand is actually alive and has a monopoly on the world’s dairy farms? For this prompt, think of people in your life who have believed in crazy conspiracy theories, and write about the time they first shared them with you. Think of how your beliefs might seem naïve to them, and explore the tension between the competing versions of history.

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

16. What do you want more than anything in your life? Write about the burning hot core of your desire, and how that desire has changed over your life.

17. Recall what stressed you out most as a child. Was it the creaking stairs leading to the basement? Or being lost at the store? Explore your current relationship to that stressor. Did you ever move past that fear or anxiety? How do you interact with it now?

18. What relationship in your life has caused the most pain? Write the key scene in that relationship, when everything was at stake.

19. Write about a road trip you took, and about where all your fellow travelers ended up in life versus where you ended up. Are you glad you didn’t end up where they did, or are you jealous?

20. How has your identity changed over the course of your life? Write a scene from your teenage years that epitomizes the type of person you were, and then write a scene from recent life that shows how you’ve changed.

21. What event in your life has angered you the most? Write the scene where it happened, and tell us what you would do if it happened again.

22. What single experience most shaped who you are? Describe the experience in a single, vivid scene.

23. Who was your first friend to die? Write about how you learned of their death, and how you and their other friends mourned them.

24. Choose a happy or comfortable memory and write it in a way that makes the memory creepy or eerie to the reader. Don’t change the basic facts of the event, only select different facts and present them differently.

25. Show yourself in a scene pursuing the thing you want most in the world. Try to show the reader, without telling them, about your character flaws.

26. If you could throw five items into the fire, what would they be and why? To be clear, by throwing them in this fire, there would be no trace of them left anywhere, even if it’s something on the Internet or a memory. This is a very powerful fire. What would the consequences be?

27. What physical object or family heirloom ties together your grandparents, your parents, and yourself? Describe this object in great detail, and what it has meant to generations of your family.

This is seriously the best anthology out there for creative nonfiction.

Lee Gutkind and Annie Dillard have created a fantastic repository of classics.

In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction

28. Tell a story from your life in inverted chronological order. Start with the end, then backpedal to the middle, then tell the beginning, and then fill in the rest of the gaps.

29. Write about your favorite trip or journey, and how that high level of happiness was eventually threatened.

30. Look at some photographs of your childhood. Look at the pictures of your old room, the clothes you wore, and the places you had been. Try to remember a friend from that time period, and describe the first memory of a time when they pressured you or made you uncomfortable or angry.

31. Take a small, boring moment that happened today and write as much as you can about it. Go overboard describing it, and make this boring moment exciting by describing it in intense detail with ecstatic prose. Eventually connect this small, boring detail with the grand narrative of your life, your bigger purpose and intentions.

32. Describe the best meal you ever ate. Then describe a conflict you had with the people you shared it with, one that happened before, during, or after.

33. Recall an individual that you particularly hated. Describe their cruelty to you, and try to write yourself into an understanding of why they might have done it.

34. What was the best/worst letter you ever received or wrote? Write about the situation surrounding that letter, and why it was so important.

35. Recall a name you’ve given to a toy, a car, a pet, or a child, and tell us the story of how you and your family selected that name. Who fought over the name? What was the significance of that name? What happened to the animal or thing you named?

36. Write about experiencing the craziest natural event you’ve ever seen — tornado, earthquake, tsunami, hurricane. Dramatize the physical danger of the natural event as well as the tension between you and the people you were with.

37. Tell the story of the most important person that has shaped your town and its culture (you might have to do some research). How did the activity of that person influence the way you grew up or live currently?

How do you find good creative nonfiction stories?

This book masterfully teaches you how to discover the stories others will want to hear.

Creative Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life

38. Scientists have wondered for years how nature and nurture plays into the development of human minds and their choices. Explore where you and your siblings are today and the choices that brought you there. Would you like to trade places with your sibling? Would you be happy living in their shoes? How have your personal choices differed over the years?

39. Write a scene of a time when someone older than you gave you advice, and write about how you followed it or ignored it and the consequences.

40. Write a single, three-paragraph scene when your sexual desire was thwarted by yourself or someone else.

41. Describe a scene when you were stereotyping someone. Did someone challenge you, or if you only felt guilty by yourself, how did you change your behavior afterwards?

42. Describe the biggest epiphany of your life, then backtrack and tell the lead-up to that scene or the aftermath. In the lead-up or aftermath, show how the epiphany was either overrated or every bit as valuable as you’d previously thought.

43. Write about a fork in the road in your life, and how you made the decision to go the direction you did.

44. Explore an addiction you had or currently have. Whether the addiction is as serious as alcohol or cigarettes, or something much more mundane like texting, video games, or internet usage, describe in vivid detail the first time you tried it. If you quit, tell the story of how you quit.

45. Recall a scene in which you chose to remain silent. Whether it was your boss’s racist rant, or just an argument not worth having, explore the scene and why you chose not to speak.

46. Revisit a moment in your life that you feel you will never be able to forget. What about that moment made it so unforgettable?

47. What makes you feel guilty? Revisit a moment that you are ashamed of or feel guilty for and explore why that is. Describe the scene and the event and communicate why you feel this way.

48. Write about a moment in which you acted selflessly or against your own benefit. What motivated you to do so? What were the circumstances? How did you feel after words?

49. Write about the most pivotal scene in a relationship with someone in your extended family — Uncle, aunt, cousin, grandmother. Describe the tension or happiness you shared, and how that came to affect your relationship from that point onward.

50. If all else fails, try a writing-sprint. Set an alarm for 5, 10, or 15 minutes and write as much as possible within that time span. Even if you begin with no inspiration, you might be surprised with what you come up with by the end.

The definitive guide to creating riveting true life stories.

Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction

For added pressure, try these writing websites:

Write Or Die

If you stop writing for more than 5 seconds, everything you’ve written disappears. It’s like writing with someone with a whip behind your chair. But with this new update you can choose to get positive reinforcements, too, like a kitten or candy, or to have your words disemvoweled rather than disappear.

A points-based system to encourage writers to write 750 words every single day. You get bonus points for not skipping days, and bonus points for writing more than 750 words.

Written? Kitten!

Every 100 words you write, you get shown a picture of a kitten. Ah, simple motivation. No word whether a dog version of the site is in the works for those who are more dog people.

For more on creative nonfiction writing, I suggest Creative Nonfiction . This website works with its print magazine counterpart to specifically cater to creative nonfiction writers and operates as an excellent starting point for more inspiration. Happy writing!

108 Engaging And Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts

So you want to write a nonfiction book . Good for you! What are you going to write about ?

I know. That question stumps most everyone.

What indeed? Coming up with creative nonfiction ideas isn’t for the faint of heart.

Nonfiction is a big, broad genre of book writing, and narrowing it down to an area in which you have some expertise, background , or interest can be daunting.

And even if you kinda, sorta know what you want to write about , you’re not exactly sure how to begin or how to get your creative juices flowing.

That’s why we’ve created a varied list of nonfiction writing prompts for you — so you can narrow down your choices or pinpoint precisely the type of nonfiction you want to write.

108 Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts

Ready to get started? Read through this list of creative nonfiction ideas, and make a note of any that resonate with you.

Or just start writing about one of the nonfiction prompts and see where it takes you.

If you’ve been wondering, “What are some nonfiction topics I might write about?” then these prompts can help you narrow down ideas for your next book project.

1. You’ve developed a new creative side-hustle, and you have enough business to bring in at least a few hundred (or even thousand) a month.

2. You know how to prepare for a specific kind of disaster, and you want to make others aware not only of the imminent danger of that disaster but how best to prepare for it.

3. The Missing Ingredient: What is one thing most people forget or overlook when making or doing something?

4. This is something most people don’t know about ______.

5. You could be more (or less) ______.

6. You need more _____ in your life.

7. Discontent is not (always) a lack of gratitude. Here’s why.

8. The right music can change everything for you. Here’s how.

9. Swap this for that and see how it changes your life!

10. Be your own devil’s advocate? Why would you want to do that?

11. What on earth does logic have to do with creative writing (or creative anything)?

12. Are your morning/nighttime habits keeping you poor? Or did they for a while?

13. How do you go on after your best friend dies (or leaves you)?

14. What one thing could you add to your workspace to make you happier and more productive?

woman typing outdoor patio writing prompts

15. What one thing in your life would you love to change? And what can you do to change it — and help others do the same?

16. Your doc says, “No more alcohol for you!” So, you look for ways to relax without it.

17. You used to take everything personally — thinking everyone was comparing you to someone else.

18. Why do bad things pile up the way they do? And what can you do about it?

19. Why would anyone want to live in < city /state/country>

20. Yeah, your desk is cluttered — and you’re okay with that.

21. Your oldest kid is driving you nuts, and you have to admit your role in that.

22. Your pets have all but destroyed an entire room in your home.

23. So, you want to do something dangerous (skydiving, parasailing, bungee jumping, learning parkour, etc.).

24. You’ve always wanted to travel to ______. How can you afford it, and what do you need to know?

25. Investing is a scary business. How do you even begin?

26. You’re moving, but you can’t find a buyer for your house. Why not rent it out instead — and how do you do that?

27. You have no Christmas budget, but you want to make this Christmas one your kids will remember fondly.

28. You learned something from writing your last book that has changed the way you write them.

29. Everything started to fall into place once you finally narrowed your focus to the kind of writing you really want to do.

30. When you changed this little thing in your diet, you started dropping weight faster than ever before.

31. Something you didn’t know about your body has been working behind the scenes, turning your own efforts against you.

32. Caffeine has always been one of your besties, but now your doc says you have to cut back — or even cut it completely from your diet!

33. Your path from the 9-to-5 job to full-time self-employment hasn’t been like the ones described by the experts whose books you’ve read, but you know you’re not alone.

34. Serendipity is nice and all, but something else is responsible for your success, and you want others to know what that is — and how they can make it work for them.

35. When was the last time you actually kept a New Year’s resolution? How did you keep it, and what difference did it make?

36. How big is your daily to-do list? And what kind of daily planning works for you?

37. What changes have you made to your monthly spending that have made a huge difference for you?

38. Desperation (i.e. lack of money and/or time) made you do it. You learned how to do something yourself, you did it well, and people are saying good things.

39. One of your kids has said, “I don’t read. I have ADHD.” You have ADHD, too, though, and you read plenty. You become determined to find out if something else is going on.

40. Adding this spice to every day’s menu has made a big difference in your health — as well as your enjoyment of cooking.

41. Only when you discovered and addressed a deficiency in a certain nutrient did you begin to feel more energetic, alive, and creative than you remember ever feeling before.

42. Your doctor suggests a new therapy for your condition but warns you that it could damage one of your other organs.

43. No one told you how hard it would be to withdraw from SSRIs (or how long it could take), but through trial and error, you found a way.

44. Everyone around you is telling you to quit taking your SSRI, but you know that — somehow — it has actually helped you.

man sitting on sofa with computer writing prompts

45. Your kids have special needs, and you’re fed up with people making assumptions about their intelligence or their parenting when they act up in public.

46. You find an approach to homeschooling (or partial homeschooling) that restores your kids’ curiosity and love of learning and creating.

47. Your oldest wants to drop out of school, because so-and-so did it, and “Look how successful he is!”

48. Your marriage was deteriorating until you made this one, small change.

49. For years, all you had to do was look at a donut, and you’d gain weight. Then you changed one thing

50. You made a goal: “In the next 100 days, I will ______.”A hundred days later, you’ve exceeded your goal .

51. The first day of that “staycation” you wanted has arrived.

52. You went on a mission to where?

53. You’ve increased your own self-confidence and helped others to boost theirs, too.

54. Ditching both Netflix and your gym membership has changed your life for the better….

55. Changing your beliefs about something has caused some tension at home but has also made it possible for you to earn and accomplish more than you used to think was possible.

56. Childhood memories and the emotions attached to them have held you back for years, but not anymore.

57. Your high school education led you to college, which led you to a job you hated but felt stuck with for years.

58. What app or online tool has changed the way you do business?

59. Families can take a heavy toll on a house. What repair work have you had done to restore your home and what have you learned to do yourself?

60. Your second grader hates school and thinks reading is boring.

61. One of your kids is a writer and wants to take a page out of her main character’s book and dye her hair purple.

62. One of your kids has come out to you as gay, bisexual, or asexual.

63. One of your teenage kids has chosen a different religion and no longer wants to go to church with his family.

64. A brush with death has changed your priorities, and you’ve made some drastic changes.

65. You’ve hit your forties and found a list you made 10 years ago of the things you wanted to accomplish during your 30’s.

66. You’ve had an epiphany in the shower, and after exploring it with a journal entry, you’re thinking, “This could be a book!”

67. You’re looking at a goal and thinking, “What kind of person do I have to be to accomplish this goal in the time I’ve set for it?”

68. What does it mean to be neurotypical as opposed to neurodiverse?

69. How has marriage changed your perception of married life?

70. You learn that one of your kids is autistic, and you and your spouse have very different reactions to the news.

71. You and your spouse have opposing beliefs with regard to gender differences and sexual orientation, and it’s becoming a problem.

21 Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts to Inspire True Stories

by Sue Weems | 0 comments

Start Your Story TODAY! We’re teaching a new LIVE workshop this week to help you start your next book. Learn more and sign up here.

If you've ever wanted to tell a true story using more literary techniques, then the genre you're exploring is creative nonfiction. Let's define creative nonfiction and then try some creative nonfiction writing prompts today.

Title "21 Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts" with photo of a stack of old letters

What is creative nonfiction?

Creative nonfiction is a literary genre of writing that uses fiction techniques and stylistic choices to express real-life experiences. It depends on story elements especially, so everything you've learned about structure will serve you well in creative nonfiction.

It often includes personal essays, memoirs, biographies, and other related genres such as travel writing or food writing. Creative nonfiction writers strive to make their pieces engaging to readers with narrative techniques typically found in fiction, such as vivid descriptions and dialogue, but in addition to that, they approach their subject matter with a thoughtfulness about the larger meaning of experiences.

It's an extremely flexible form. You can begin by writing out a personal experience and then layering it with narrative or thematic elements. You can infuse your writing with poetic elements to make the writing more lyrical. The possibilities for your writing practice are endless.

Because of that, it's the perfect form for practicing new techniques and experimenting with your storytelling. You could use any nonfiction prompt, but let me give you a few to try today. Remember the one thing you want to do is tell a true story (or as true as you can tell it!).

And if you've always dreamed of writing a memoir, check out our full guide to writing a memoir here .

21 Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts

1. Tell a personal story about a time you lost something that changed your life.

2. Relate a childhood experience where you felt locked out literally or figuratively.

3. Think about a road trip—maybe not the epic, once-in-a-lifetime trip, but a smaller one that surprised you with something on the way. Write about the vivid details and what defied your expectations.

4. Write about finding unexpected love or friendship.

5. Tell a story about the last time you felt at home.

6. Relate a time when you had to leave something important or precious behind.

7. Tell about a time you had to dig.

8. Write about the first time of drove or traveled alone and it changed you.

9. Tell about a painful or poignant goodbye.

10. Relate a favorite memory about a significant figure in your life.

11. Write the story of the most difficult decision you made in each decade of your life.

12. Tell the story of a birth: of a person, an idea, a business, a relationship.

13. Relate the most life-changing conversation you've had using only dialogue. (or stream-of-consciousness or alternating point of view)

14. Recreate the earliest significant experience you had with school or learning.

15. Write about a tiny object that changed your life.

16. Tell the story of an argument that ended in a surprising or unexpected way.

17. Recreate a scene where you had to defend yourself or someone else.

18. Share a story about trying something new (whether you failed or met success).

19. Write about the moment you knew you had to keep a secret.

20. Tell about a time you interacted, viewed, or read a piece of art and it changed you.

21. Share about a letter, email, or text that disrupted your life and caused you to change course.

Put your writing skills to the test

Now it's your turn. Dig into those childhood memories or visceral experiences that have made you who you are. Tell the story and then look for ways to explore literary technique as you revise.

Choose one of the prompts above and set your timer for fifteen minutes . Write the experience as vividly and direct as you can. Often, the magic of creative nonfiction comes in revision, so don't worry about focusing on too many stylistic choices at first.

When finished, share your creative nonfiction piece in the Pro Practice Workshop here , and encourage a few other writers while you're there.

Sue Weems is a writer, teacher, and traveler with an advanced degree in (mostly fictional) revenge. When she’s not rationalizing her love for parentheses (and dramatic asides), she follows a sailor around the globe with their four children, two dogs, and an impossibly tall stack of books to read. You can read more of her writing tips on her website .

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50 Creative Nonfiction Prompts to Spark Your Inspiration

Creative nonfiction is a unique blend of storytelling and reality, where the facts of life meet the art of narrative. It’s a genre that invites writers to explore their experiences, thoughts, and observations, weaving them into stories that resonate with truth and authenticity. In this realm, the line between the mundane and the extraordinary is often blurred, turning everyday experiences into captivating tales.

Prompts, in this context, serve as a starting point, a spark to ignite the imagination and draw out stories that might be hiding just beneath the surface. They encourage writers to dig deeper, reflect on their experiences, and discover the narratives that have shaped their perspectives.

Whether it’s exploring personal memories, observing societal dynamics, or simply musing on the quirks of daily life, these prompts are designed to cover a wide array of themes. They offer a launchpad for anyone looking to delve into the rich and varied world of creative nonfiction, guiding them through a journey of self-discovery and storytelling.

Personal Reflections

Recall an experience that changed your perspective on life.
Describe a tradition in your family and its personal significance.
Write about a moment of self-discovery or realization.
Share an experience of overcoming a fear or phobia.
Reflect on an encounter that left a lasting impression on you.

Life’s Milestones

Describe your feelings on the day you left home for the first time.
Write about the experience of meeting a significant other or a lifelong friend.
Share the emotions and thoughts of a pivotal birthday or anniversary.
Reflect on the experience of achieving a long-sought-after goal.
Describe a moment of failure and what it taught you.

Challenges and Resilience

Write about a time you faced a significant challenge at work or school.
Share a story of a personal setback and how you bounced back.
Reflect on a moment you had to stand up for yourself or someone else.
Describe a period of life-changing adversity and its impact on you.
Write about an unexpected challenge that you turned into an opportunity.

Travel and Exploration

Share a memorable experience from a trip that changed your view of the world.
Write about a place you visited that felt completely alien to you.
Reflect on a journey that did not go as planned, but taught you something valuable.
Describe a moment where you connected with a stranger while traveling.
Share an experience of discovering something new in a familiar place.

Societal Observations

Reflect on a current event that deeply affected you and why.
Write about a time when you noticed a significant social change.
Share your thoughts on a technological advancement and its impact on society.
Describe an encounter that challenged your long-held beliefs.
Write about a moment you witnessed community solidarity.

Creative Musings

Reflect on what creativity means to you.
Write about a book, film, or artwork that profoundly affected your life.
Share a story about how a particular song or piece of music moves you.
Describe a time when engaging in a creative activity helped you overcome a personal challenge.
Reflect on an instance where you found beauty in an unexpected place.

Relationships and Connections

Write about a relationship that taught you an important life lesson.
Share a story of a chance encounter that led to a meaningful connection.
Reflect on the evolution of a significant relationship in your life.
Describe a conversation that had a profound impact on you.
Write about the complexities of a family relationship.

Self-Discovery and Growth

Reflect on an aspect of your identity that has shaped your life.
Write about a habit you changed and the effect it had on you.
Share a moment that made you question your beliefs or values.
Describe a period of significant personal growth.
Reflect on a time when you surprised yourself.

Miscellaneous Adventures

Share a story about an unusual hobby or interest and why it fascinates you.
Write about an unexpected adventure in an ordinary day.
Describe an unusual or memorable event in your community.
Share a story of a spontaneous decision that led to an unexpected journey.
Write about a quirky or unique family story.

Moments of Joy and Happiness

Reflect on an experience that made you laugh uncontrollably.
Describe a surprise that turned out to be an incredible gift.
Share a memory of a perfect day.
Write about finding happiness in an unexpected place.
Recall a time when a small act of kindness made a significant difference in your mood or day.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it – 50 stepping stones to get those words flowing and stories growing. Each prompt is a little nudge, pushing you to explore, reflect, and maybe even uncover something new about yourself and the world around you. Creative nonfiction is all about taking the real and weaving it into narratives that resonate and connect.

These ones here are just the starting point. They’re here to break the ice, to get you thinking and, most importantly, writing. Whether you’re jotting down memories, musing over daily observations, or sharing life’s big moments, remember, every story you tell is adding your unique voice to the tapestry of human experience. So go ahead, pick a prompt, and let the adventure begin.

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76 Nonfiction Writing Prompts to Help You Write Better, More Engaging Content

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on Published: September 9, 2022 - Last updated: July 31, 2023

Categories Writing , Inspiration

Do you sometimes struggle to come up with ideas for your articles or nonfiction works? Are you looking for ways to improve your writing and make it more engaging for your readers? If so, then you need to check out these nonfiction writing prompts! These prompts will help you come up with topics to write about and will also help you improve your writing skills. So what are you waiting for? Start using these prompts today!

33 Creative Nonfiction Prompts to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing

As a writer, it can be easy to get caught up in writer’s block. You may not know what to write about or which angle to approach a topic from. If you’re feeling stuck, why not try your hand at nonfiction? Nonfiction writing can be a great way to flex your creative muscles and explore new topics.

Write about a time when you had to confront your fears. What were you afraid of? How did you overcome your fear?
Write about a journey you went on- literal or metaphorical. What did you learn from the experience?
Write about someone you admire and why they inspire you.
Write about a memory that still makes you laugh.
Write about a time when you had to stand up for yourself or someone else.
Write about an experience that taught you a valuable lesson.
Write about a goal you’ve set for yourself and why it’s important to you.
Write about someone who has made a positive impact on your life.
Write about a hobby or interest you have that others may find surprising.
Write an open letter to someone- living or dead, real or fictional- thanking them for their impact on your life.
Write about an important issue facing the world today and what needs to be done to address it.
Write about a time when you overcame adversity.
What was your best childhood memory?
Who has been the biggest influence in your life and why?
What is your favorite family tradition?
What was the most defining moment of your teenage years?
Write about a time when you had to confront a difficult truth.
What was the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make?
What are some of the life lessons you’ve learned so far?
How have you grown and changed over the years?
What does happiness mean to you?
Tell the story of a defining moment in your life.
Write about a time when you had to confront a difficult truth about yourself.
Write about a hobby or interest you’ve always been embarrassed to admit to.
Write about a memory that still makes you laugh (or cry) every time you think about it.
Write about a place you’ve always wanted to visit but haven’t had the chance yet.
Write about someone who has had a major influence on your life, for better or worse.
Write about a time when you had to do something you were really scared of.
Write about a physical object that has sentimental value to you.
Write about a time when you took a stand on something even though it was unpopular.
Write about an experience that challenged your assumptions or worldview in some way.
Write about a person who you admire but don’t necessarily agree with.
Write about a time when you had to make a tough decision with no clear right or wrong answer.

10 Nonfiction Short Story Prompts

Your most memorable childhood experience
A time when you faced a challenge head-on
A life-changing event
An emotional moment that still stays with you
A time when you had to let go of something or someone important to you
A moment of happiness or success
When you had an “aha!” moment
A time when you had to confront a fear
An experience that taught you a valuable lesson
A memory that still makes you laugh (or cry!) today

11 Nonfiction Personal Essay Prompts

Crafting a personal essay is one of the most challenging parts of the writing process. You have to distill your experience to its essence and find a way to communicate it in a way that will resonate with your audience. No wonder many writers find personal essays some of the most difficult pieces!

Write about a transition period in your life (moving, starting a new job, going away to college, etc.) and how it affected you.
Pick an object with sentimental value and write about its history and what it means to you.
Write about an event from your childhood that you still think about today.
What are your earliest memories? Write about them in as much detail as possible.
Who is someone you admire and why?
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your life? How did you overcome them?
What do you think makes you unique?
What are some of your biggest accomplishments? Why were they important to you in the moment, and how do they continue to affect your life today?
Write about a time when you had to grapple with an ethical dilemma. How did you ultimately make your decision, and what were the consequences?

11 Journal Writing Prompts

Journaling is a great way to engage with the events of your day and process your thoughts and feelings.

Write about a time when you had to face a difficult truth.
What are some things you’re grateful for?
What does your idea of the perfect day look like?
How do you define happiness, and what are some things that make you happy?
Choose one thing that you’d like to change about yourself and write about why you want to change it and how you plan to go about doing it.
Do you have any lingering unresolved anger or resentment towards anyone? Why not try writing a letter to that person, even if you don’t plan on sending it? Getting your thoughts out can help you to let go and move on.
What would be your dream vacation spot? Write about all the details: where would you stay, what would you do, what would you eat?
Have you ever experienced something miraculous? Whether big or small, share your story.
Sometimes our biggest fears turn out to be unfounded. Write about a time when this happened to you.
When was the last time you did something for the first time? How did it feel?
Write about someone who has had a positive influence on your life. Why are they important to you?

11 Memoir Writing Prompts

A memoir is a way to tell your story and share your experience with others. Memoirs can be written about a personal experience, someone else’s experience, or even a topic you feel passionate about.

What is the earliest memory you have? What do you remember about it? How does it make you feel?
Write about a time when you were faced with a difficult decision. What were the options? What did you decide? Why?
What are some of the defining moments in your life? Why were they so significant?
Write about a person who has had a major influence on your life. Who are they, and what did they teach you?
What has been your most challenging experience? How did you face it? What did you learn from it?
Describe a time when you had to overcome adversity. What was the situation, and how did you manage it?
Is there someone in your life that you admire and look up to? Who are they, and what qualities do they possess that you admire?
Write about an event that has shaped who you are today. What happened, and how did it change you?
What are some of the defining moments of your childhood? Why were they so significant to you at the time?
Tell the story of a significant relationship in your life. What was this relationship like, and what did it teach you about yourself and others?
Everyone has regrets in life. What is something you regret, and why do you feel that way about it now?

Telling your story can be a powerful way to connect with others, process your experiences, and heal from trauma. If you’re stuck, try using one of these memoir writing prompts.

What Makes a Good Nonfiction Writing Topic

Searching for a good nonfiction writing topic can sometimes feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. There are just so many options out there! How do you choose one that will be interesting to write about and read?

Here are a few factors to keep in mind when choosing a topic for your next nonfiction piece:

Potential interest to the audience : You want to choose a topic that you think people will want to read about. Ask yourself- would you want to read an article on this subject? If the answer is no, it’s probably not worth writing about. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but in general, it’s good to err on the side of writing something that you think people will find interesting and useful.
Something you care about: It can be easier (and more fun!) to write about something you’re passionate about. When you care about your topic, it shows in your writing, and readers can sense that. Of course, you don’t have to be an expert on the subject- part of the reason you’re writing is to learn more about it yourself! However, if you aren’t interested in the topic, it will be harder to find the motivation to write about it.
Originality: You also want to ensure that you’re choosing a topic that hasn’t been written about too much before. Finding an original angle on a well-explored subject can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Some of the best pieces take a new perspective on a familiar topic. However, if you find that there are already dozens of articles on the same subject you wanted to write about, it might be time to move on and choose something else.

What Is a Creative Nonfiction Essay?

A creative nonfiction essay uses the real-life experiences of the nonfiction writer as material for the piece. This type of essay can be written in first person point of view and is usually focused on a single event, experience, or moment in time.

What separates a creative nonfiction essay from a simple narrative essay is the addition of literary devices such as metaphors, similes, and other poetic language. This allows the writer to create a more emotive piece that engages the reader on a different level. In addition, creative nonfiction essays often use flashbacks and other devices that help create a more linear story.

While creative nonfiction essays can be based on real-life experiences, they are still stories that need to be well-crafted to engage the reader. This means that writers must be aware of good storytelling elements, such as conflict, resolution, and character development. By incorporating these elements into their essays, writers can create compelling pieces of creative nonfiction.

Creative nonfiction essays are an interesting and challenging genre for writers. By combining real-life experiences with elements of good storytelling, writers can create engaging and emotive essays that will resonate with readers.

How to Write Creative Nonfiction

Creative nonfiction is a genre of writing that uses fiction and nonfiction elements to tell a true story. Unlike traditional journalism or academic writing, creative nonfiction allows writers to use literary devices such as metaphor and simile to bring their stories to life.

The first step in writing creative nonfiction is deciding what story you want to tell. This can be a personal story from your own life or the story of someone else you have been told. Once you have decided on a story, the next step is to start researching. This will help you to understand the events that took place and the people involved.

Next, it’s time to start writing. The key to writing creative nonfiction is to be as honest as possible. This means being willing to share your thoughts and feelings about the events that took place. It’s also important to use literary devices such as metaphor and simile to bring your story to life for the reader.

Finally, don’t forget to edit and revise your work before publishing it. This will help ensure that your story is free of errors, flows smoothly from beginning to end, and help you become a professional creative nonfiction writer.

How to Write a Good Nonfiction Essay

A nonfiction essay is a piece of writing that aims to present information about a certain subject. It can be based on anything from real-life events to personal experiences. To write a good nonfiction essay, there are some key elements that you need to keep in mind:

Decide on a topic

The first step is to decide on a topic for your essay. The topic can be anything from a personal event to something you have read about or seen. If you are having trouble deciding on a topic, try brainstorming with friends or family members. Once you have settled on a topic, the next step is to start researching.

Do your research

Before you start writing, you must do your research. This means looking for sources that will help you support your claims in your essay. When looking for sources, make sure they are credible and reliable. Once you have found some good sources, the next step is writing your essay.

Write your essay

When you are writing your essay, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. First, ensure that your essay has an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Second, make sure that all of your claims are supported by evidence from your research. And third, try to make your essay as interesting and engaging as possible.

Edit and revise

Once you have finished writing your essay, it is important to edit and revise it. This will help you improve the quality of your work and increase your chances of getting published. To edit and revise your work, try reading it aloud or getting someone else to read it. This will help you catch any errors or awkward phrasing you might have missed.

Submit your essay

The final step is to submit your essay to a publisher or contest. Doing this will allow you to get feedback from professionals and potentially have your work published for others to see.

How Do You Write a Nonfiction Book in 30 Days?

How is it possible to write an entire nonfiction book in such a short amount of time? Well, it certainly isn’t easy, and it isn’t for everyone. But if you have a clear vision for your book and you’re willing to put in the hard work, then it is possible.

Here are a few tips on how you can write a nonfiction book in 30 days:

1. Outline Your Book First

This may seem like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how many people try to wing it when they write their books. A clear outline of what you want to cover in each chapter will make the actual writing process much easier and less daunting. Trust us, you will thank us later.

2. Set Aside Time Each Day to Write

Trying to cram an entire book into 30 days is unrealistic and very stressful. A better approach would be to set aside time each day to write. Set realistic goals for yourself – maybe aim to write 2-3 pages daily. If you stick to this plan, you will have a much better chance of completing your book within the 30-day timeframe.

3. Get an Editor

Once you have written your first draft, getting someone to edit your work is important. This step is crucial because it will help tighten up your writing and catch any errors you may have missed. A professional editor will also provide valuable feedback on your work which can be very helpful as you revise your manuscript.

4. Promote Your Book

Writing and publishing a book is only half the battle – the other half is promoting it! Make sure to create buzz about your book before it is released and devise creative ways to market it once it hits online stores or shelves.

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Last updated on Feb 20, 2023

Creative Nonfiction: How to Spin Facts into Narrative Gold

About the author.

Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Savannah Cordova

Savannah is a senior editor with Reedsy and a published writer whose work has appeared on Slate, Kirkus, and BookTrib. Her short fiction has appeared in the Owl Canyon Press anthology, "No Bars and a Dead Battery".

About Rebecca van Laer

Rebecca van Laer is a writer, editor, and the author of two books, including the novella How to Adjust to the Dark. Her work has been featured in literary magazines such as AGNI, Breadcrumbs, and TriQuarterly.

Creative nonfiction is a genre of creative writing that approaches factual information in a literary way. This type of writing applies techniques drawn from literary fiction and poetry to material that might be at home in a magazine or textbook, combining the craftsmanship of a novel with the rigor of journalism.

Here are some popular examples of creative nonfiction:

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang
Intimations by Zadie Smith
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Madwoman in the Attic by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino

Creative nonfiction is not limited to novel-length writing, of course. Popular radio shows and podcasts like WBEZ’s This American Life or Sarah Koenig’s Serial also explore audio essays and documentary with a narrative approach, while personal essays like Nora Ephron’s A Few Words About Breasts and Mariama Lockington’s What A Black Woman Wishes Her Adoptive White Parents Knew also present fact with fiction-esque flair.

Writing short personal essays can be a great entry point to writing creative nonfiction. Think about a topic you would like to explore, perhaps borrowing from your own life, or a universal experience. Journal freely for five to ten minutes about the subject, and see what direction your creativity takes you in. These kinds of exercises will help you begin to approach reality in a more free flowing, literary way — a muscle you can use to build up to longer pieces of creative nonfiction.

If you think you’d like to bring your writerly prowess to nonfiction, here are our top tips for creating compelling creative nonfiction that’s as readable as a novel, but as illuminating as a scholarly article.

Write a memoir focused on a singular experience

Humans love reading about other people’s lives — like first-person memoirs, which allow you to get inside another person’s mind and learn from their wisdom. Unlike autobiographies, memoirs can focus on a single experience or theme instead of chronicling the writers’ life from birth onward.

For that reason, memoirs tend to focus on one core theme and—at least the best ones—present a clear narrative arc, like you would expect from a novel. This can be achieved by selecting a singular story from your life; a formative experience, or period of time, which is self-contained and can be marked by a beginning, a middle, and an end.

When writing a memoir, you may also choose to share your experience in parallel with further research on this theme. By performing secondary research, you’re able to bring added weight to your anecdotal evidence, and demonstrate the ways your own experience is reflective (or perhaps unique from) the wider whole.

Example: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Creative Nonfiction example: Cover of Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking

Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking , for example, interweaves the author’s experience of widowhood with sociological research on grief. Chronicling the year after her husband’s unexpected death, and the simultaneous health struggles of their daughter, The Year of Magical Thinking is a poignant personal story, layered with universal insight into what it means to lose someone you love. The result is the definitive exploration of bereavement — and a stellar example of creative nonfiction done well.

📚 Looking for more reading recommendations? Check out our list of the best memoirs of the last century .

Tip: What you cut out is just as important as what you keep

When writing a memoir that is focused around a singular theme, it’s important to be selective in what to include, and what to leave out. While broader details of your life may be helpful to provide context, remember to resist the impulse to include too much non-pertinent backstory. By only including what is most relevant, you are able to provide a more focused reader experience, and won’t leave readers guessing what the significance of certain non-essential anecdotes will be.

💡 For more memoir-planning tips, head over to our post on outlining memoirs .

Of course, writing a memoir isn’t the only form of creative nonfiction that lets you tap into your personal life — especially if there’s something more explicit you want to say about the world at large… which brings us onto our next section.

Pen a personal essay that has something bigger to say

Personal essays condense the first-person focus and intimacy of a memoir into a tighter package — tunneling down into a specific aspect of a theme or narrative strand within the author’s personal experience.

Often involving some element of journalistic research, personal essays can provide examples or relevant information that comes from outside the writer’s own experience. This can take the form of other people’s voices quoted in the essay, or facts and stats. By combining lived experiences with external material, personal essay writers can reach toward a bigger message, telling readers something about human behavior or society instead of just letting them know the writer better.

Example: The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison

Creative nonfiction example: Cover of Leslie Jamison's The Empathy Exams

Leslie Jamison's widely acclaimed collection The Empathy Exams tackles big questions (Why is pain so often performed? Can empathy be “bad”?) by grounding them in the personal. While Jamison draws from her own experiences, both as a medical actor who was paid to imitate pain, and as a sufferer of her own ailments, she also reaches broader points about the world we live in within each of her essays.

Whether she’s talking about the justice system or reality TV, Jamison writes with both vulnerability and poise, using her lived experience as a jumping-off point for exploring the nature of empathy itself.

Tip: Try to show change in how you feel about something

Including external perspectives, as we’ve just discussed above, will help shape your essay, making it meaningful to other people and giving your narrative an arc.

Ultimately, you may be writing about yourself, but readers can read what they want into it. In a personal narrative, they’re looking for interesting insights or realizations they can apply to their own understanding of their lives or the world — so don’t lose sight of that. As the subject of the essay, you are not so much the topic as the vehicle for furthering a conversation.

Often, there are three clear stages in an essay:

Initial state
Encounter with something external
New, changed state, and conclusions

By bringing readers through this journey with you, you can guide them to new outlooks and demonstrate how your story is still relevant to them.

Had enough of writing about your own life? Let’s look at a form of creative nonfiction that allows you to get outside of yourself.

Tell a factual story as though it were a novel

The form of creative nonfiction that is perhaps closest to conventional nonfiction is literary journalism. Here, the stories are all fact, but they are presented with a creative flourish. While the stories being told might comfortably inhabit a newspaper or history book, they are presented with a sense of literary significance, and writers can make use of literary techniques and character-driven storytelling.

Unlike news reporters, literary journalists can make room for their own perspectives: immersing themselves in the very action they recount. Think of them as both characters and narrators — but every word they write is true.

If you think literary journalism is up your street, think about the kinds of stories that capture your imagination the most, and what those stories have in common. Are they, at their core, character studies? Parables? An invitation to a new subculture you have never before experienced? Whatever piques your interest, immerse yourself.

Example: The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

Creative nonfiction example: Cover of Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire

If you’re looking for an example of literary journalism that tells a great story, look no further than Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World , which sits at the intersection of food writing and popular science. Though it purports to offer a “plant’s-eye view of the world,” it’s as much about human desires as it is about the natural world.

Through the history of four different plants and human’s efforts to cultivate them, Pollan uses first-hand research as well as archival facts to explore how we attempt to domesticate nature for our own pleasure, and how these efforts can even have devastating consequences. Pollan is himself a character in the story, and makes what could be a remarkably dry topic accessible and engaging in the process.

Tip: Don’t pretend that you’re perfectly objective

You may have more room for your own perspective within literary journalism, but with this power comes great responsibility. Your responsibilities toward the reader remain the same as that of a journalist: you must, whenever possible, acknowledge your own biases or conflicts of interest, as well as any limitations on your research.

Thankfully, the fact that literary journalism often involves a certain amount of immersion in the narrative — that is, the writer acknowledges their involvement in the process — you can touch on any potential biases explicitly, and make it clear that the story you’re telling, while true to what you experienced, is grounded in your own personal perspective.

Approach a famous name with a unique approach

Biographies are the chronicle of a human life, from birth to the present or, sometimes, their demise. Often, fact is stranger than fiction, and there is no shortage of fascinating figures from history to discover. As such, a biographical approach to creative nonfiction will leave you spoilt for choice in terms of subject matter.

Because they’re not written by the subjects themselves (as memoirs are), biographical nonfiction requires careful research. If you plan to write one, do everything in your power to verify historical facts, and interview the subject’s family, friends, and acquaintances when possible. Despite the necessity for candor, you’re still welcome to approach biography in a literary way — a great creative biography is both truthful and beautifully written.

Example: American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

Creative nonfiction example: Cover of American Prometheus

Alongside the need for you to present the truth is a duty to interpret that evidence with imagination, and present it in the form of a story. Demonstrating a novelist’s skill for plot and characterization, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s American Prometheus is a great example of creative nonfiction that develops a character right in front of the readers’ eyes .

American Prometheus follows J. Robert Oppenheimer from his bashful childhood to his role as the father of the atomic bomb, all the way to his later attempts to reckon with his violent legacy.

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The biography tells a story that would fit comfortably in the pages of a tragic novel, but is grounded in historical research. Clocking in at a hefty 721 pages, American Prometheus distills an enormous volume of archival material, including letters, FBI files, and interviews into a remarkably readable volume.

📚 For more examples of world-widening, eye-opening biographies, check out our list of the 30 best biographies of all time.

Tip: The good stuff lies in the mundane details

Biographers are expected to undertake academic-grade research before they put pen to paper. You will, of course, read any existing biographies on the person you’re writing about, and visit any archives containing relevant material. If you’re lucky, there’ll be people you can interview who knew your subject personally — but even if there aren’t, what’s going to make your biography stand out is paying attention to details, even if they seem mundane at first.

Of course, no one cares which brand of slippers a former US President wore — gossip is not what we’re talking about. But if you discover that they took a long, silent walk every single morning, that’s a granular detail you could include to give your readers a sense of the weight they carried every day. These smaller details add up to a realistic portrait of a living, breathing human being.

But creative nonfiction isn’t just writing about yourself or other people. Writing about art is also an art, as we’ll see below.

Put your favorite writers through the wringer with literary criticism

Literary criticism is often associated with dull, jargon-laden college dissertations — but it can be a wonderfully rewarding form that blurs the lines between academia and literature itself. When tackled by a deft writer, a literary critique can be just as engrossing as the books it analyzes.

Many of the sharpest literary critics are also poets, poetry editors , novelists, or short story writers, with first-hand awareness of literary techniques and the ability to express their insights with elegance and flair. Though literary criticism sounds highly theoretical, it can be profoundly intimate: you’re invited to share in someone’s experience as a reader or writer — just about the most private experience there is.

Example: The Madwoman in the Attic by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar

Creative nonfiction example: Cover of The Madwoman in the Attic

Take The Madwoman in the Attic by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, a seminal work approaching Victorian literature from a feminist perspective. Written as a conversation between two friends and academics, this brilliant book reads like an intellectual brainstorming session in a casual dining venue. Highly original, accessible, and not suffering from the morose gravitas academia is often associated with, this text is a fantastic example of creative nonfiction.

Tip: Remember to make your critiques creative

Literary criticism may be a serious undertaking, but unless you’re trying to pitch an academic journal, you’ll need to be mindful of academic jargon and convoluted sentence structure. Don’t forget that the point of popular literary criticism is to make ideas accessible to readers who aren’t necessarily academics, introducing them to new ways of looking at anything they read.

If you’re not feeling confident, a professional nonfiction editor could help you confirm you’ve hit the right stylistic balance .

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Is creative nonfiction looking a little bit clearer now? You can try your hand at the genre , or head to the next post in this guide and discover online classes where you can hone your skills at creative writing.

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Creative Nonfiction Prompts 15 Ideas To Inspire Writers & Hook Readers

August 3, 2022

Creative nonfiction refers to true stories that are immersive and engaging.

They are well-told accounts of real-life events, written to engage the reader and take them on a journey and spare them from any boring moment.

This article has included over 15 creative nonfiction prompts to help you get your creative juices flowing and inspire you to write your non-fiction book .

What is creative nonfiction?

Where does creativity come into nonfiction? Nonfiction is real stories and actual events, so where is the room for creativity?

Creative nonfiction writers use literary techniques, like character development, immersive settings , and engaging dialogue, but in the context of a true story.

The stories include real people, real events, and real situations. The way a writer tells the story is where they get creative.

Examples of creative nonfiction writing include:

Narrative essay
Personal essay
Journal entry
Literary journalism

Creative nonfiction writers aim to share real-world information such as an experience, a historical event, or a person’s life – with readers in a way that immerses them in the story as much as fiction.

Understand the use of the word creative in this context. Creative nonfiction authors don’t ‘create’ by making up facts or exaggerating them.

The facts are as they are, but how a writer conveys them and the frame in which they place them constitutes their creativity.

15+ creative nonfiction prompts

Write in a second-person narrative . In this POV, the reader reads as though they are the character. The writer uses ‘you’ to tell the story. Consider a time in history in which to plant your reader and walk them through the experiences of that time. For example, ‘You were born in 1925. At 15 years old, you were drafted, to your dismay. Your experience with gun fighting, limited to sticks and stones on the playground, wouldn’t suffice for the days to come.
Choose a skill, talent, or something you have a lot of experience with, and write a how-to article about it. For example, if you like to blog, write a blog about blogging – its challenges, why you want it, and how to do it well.
Write book reviews. Choose your favorite book or the one you read most recently and write an honest review about your reading experience. What did you like about the story? What did you like about the author? Is there anything that could have made the reading experience more enjoyable?
Do you feel a particular pull towards a vocation in life? Do you feel pulled to a particular career or life path, not because someone encouraged you but because you feel that pull deep down inside? Write about your experience with that feeling and the journey of following it.
Do you have something you’d like to share about faith or belief with others? Write an account of your experiences on your spiritual journey. How do you feel about religion? What about spirituality? Do you have thoughts, opinions, and insights that are unique to you?
Think about your favorite piece of art. If you can’t bring one to mind, go out and find some inspiration. Next, write about that piece of art. Describe it. How do you feel about it? Does it have any significance in other areas of your life? Is it a family heirloom?
Write about time spent with the best teacher you’ve ever had. What was it about that teacher that made learning so easy? How did they help you in other areas of your life?
Consider a dull moment in your day and write it as though it was the most exciting thing ever. Such a writing style lends itself well to humor, so take the joke as far as possible.
Write about a time in your life when you had to learn the hard way. We don’t always have common sense at the ready when faced with decisions, and life is such that mistakes are our most outstanding teachers. Think about mistakes and lessons you’ve learned that would have been less impactful had you not experienced them directly.
Sometimes we meet someone that changes our lives in a matter of moments. Perhaps we meet them once or are in our lives for days or weeks. Then, as life always does, it changes. That person isn’t around anymore, but the old version of ourselves isn’t around anymore either. Write a memoir about someone who passed through your life and made a significant impact.
Write a story about your town or city. Consider the various characters, communities, and events that have taken place in the past and recent years and how the community has shifted and grown. Focus on engaging, real-life characters and their lives.
Do you believe in fate and destiny? Do we have free will, or is that a more remarkable design at play? Write about your experiences with strange coincidences, spiritual experiences, and the concept of free will. Where do you stand? How do your religious beliefs come into play? Have you had experiences that you just can’t explain? What makes you think about how the world works? For a more fact-based and immersive read, include research and references to respected works on the topic.
Write about a significant event in your life from your perspective. Then, rewrite the story from someone else’s perspective, such as a friend or one of your family members.
Write about a time when your efforts paid off, even though you wanted to give up many times. The theme is persistence and consistency and their relationship to success.
Good vs. evil. What makes a person, action, or behavior good or evil? Is it all relative? Just a matter of perspective? Or are good and evil cold, hard facts? Write about a moment when you were unsure if your actions were good or evil. How do you feel about that situation now? What did you learn about yourself and life in general?
Write a story about a crime. You may know every detail, but take the facts you know and craft a story around them. Consider a major bank heist, a serial killer, or the story of a government whistleblower. Crime stories make for outstanding nonfiction because readers experience the pleasure of plot, narrative, settings, and characters while experiencing the thrill of the story being real.

Creative nonfiction writing tips

Writers have room to play when it comes to creative nonfiction. The facts exist and can’t be changed, but how one tells the story is what sets one account apart from another on the same topic.

Still, some basic nonfiction writing guidelines are essential to consider, as free as one is to write from different perspectives, characters, and tones.

Get your facts right

First things first, get your facts right.

If you write about a character from history, such as Julius Caesar or Genghis Khan, ensure everything around that character is accurate. Exert as much of your own efforts as you can in researching the topic.

Understand the time and culture in which they lived. Failing to convey the facts accurately is sure to backfire and damage your reputation, so check the facts.

Explore different points of view

One of the most exciting aspects of creative nonfiction is not the time or place in which the events happen but the people who experience them.

It’s wise to offer your readers multiple perspectives on the same situation, such as a shift from first person to third person narrative or even a second person narrative .

Use literary techniques and elements of fiction

Great creative nonfiction incorporates elements of fiction to tell a story better. Of course, it doesn’t contain the ‘fictional’ part – that would make it fiction. It includes literary techniques and devices such as:

Point of view
Vivid descriptions of settings and characters

These techniques, tools, and devices bolster your story-telling skills. You want your reader to get lost in your story, even if they know the ending.

For example, you may want to write about a historical figure, such as Malcolm X. We know that Malcolm X was assassinated. Still, the story leading up to the assassination is what readers want.

Pose a question

In Creative Nonfiction: A Guide to Form, Content, and Style, with Readings , author Eileen Pollack suggests that creative nonfiction authors pose questions before beginning the writing process.

For example, if you want to write a memoir about a period of your life, consider why you want to write it.

Why is this memory significant? What did it teach me? How am I different today because of that experience?

Such questions help you add dimension to your nonfiction story. The nonfiction aspect is the facts, the ‘what happened.’ Your creativity comes into why it happened and how you see it.

Read, read, read

No matter the genre you want to write, one of the best ways to improve your writing and craft a story that readers will love is to read as much as possible.

Find creative nonfiction authors you enjoy and explore their style.

Consider what makes their writing so engaging and immersive. Is it their descriptive abilities? Is it their use of POV? Is it their use of humor?

Find and experiment with different styles to find your own creative writing approach.

‘Creative nonfiction writers do not make things up; they make ideas and information that already exist more interesting and often more accessible,’ writes Lee Gutkind , founder of Creative Nonfiction. That accessibility is why many readers love creative nonfiction.

History, facts, actual events… These are interesting, but learning about them can be challenging. Many people don’t like to read dense, long historical accounts or complex research, and as such, they miss out on learning about those events.

Creative nonfiction writers offer as much detail about the facts as necessary but don’t rely on them. Instead, they play with other story elements such as the people, the setting , and different points of view.

This approach makes it easier for the reader to immerse themselves in the story and learn about what happened.

‘You don’t have to spend long in archives to see how much drama there is in real life – often more drama than a novelist would dare invent.’ – Charlotte Gray, author, historian

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Home / Book Writing / Nonfiction Topics to Write About: 30+ Ideas to Get You Started

Nonfiction Topics to Write About: 30+ Ideas to Get You Started

If you're an aspiring nonfiction author or blog writer (or both), you may feel that you don't have as much to write about as fiction authors. After all, fiction writers are only limited by their imaginations, whereas nonfiction writers can't just make stuff up. But if you think about it, that's not quite right. Some of the best nonfiction books take a look at old ideas through a new lens. And that lens is the author's imagination.

So whether you're struggling to generate new ideas or just want to break away from your current work in progress, we've got a list of great nonfiction topics to write about.

Tips for writing great nonfiction.
How best to pick from the list of nonfiction topics.
Tips for vetting your nonfiction book idea.

Use Creative Writing to Generate Emotions
Keep Your Purpose in Mind
Bring Something New to the Table
Informational Writing Prompts
Memoir Writing Prompts
Personal Essay Writing Prompts
How to Vet Your Nonfiction Book Idea

Writing Excellent Nonfiction

For some people, nonfiction writing comes easily, whereas fiction is a little trickier. For others, the opposite is true. The fact is, writing nonfiction is not all that different from writing fiction. With the tips below, you'll see what I mean.

Whether you're writing a piece of narrative nonfiction or a handbook on becoming an entrepreneur, you'll want to tell a story . After all, anyone can put down words that tell someone how to do something, but this isn't how great writing works. We're story-centered creatures. It's how we relate to the world.

So use a narrative to get your point across. If your readers feel something as they read your book, it's more likely to stick with them. And that's exactly what you want!

The writing prompts below are split into sub-sections based on the purpose they serve. While a lot of nonfiction is designed to help the reader solve a problem, this is not always the case. Some sub-genres of nonfiction are for readers who want to be entertained or informed. Luckily, it's pretty easy to tell the difference.

So whichever writing prompt you choose, keep your purpose in mind the whole time. Always ask yourself, as you write, if each sentence is serving the purpose of the piece.

While the prompts below are fairly broad, they require an ingredient that I can't provide in this article: you. It's your job to bring the prompt or prompts alive with your own experience, imagination, and outlook. There's no use in writing a book, essay, or article that a hundred other people have already written.

But if you have a unique take on the subject, or can provide a compelling way to deliver the information to the reader, then you have a nonfiction piece worth writing.

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Nonfiction Writing Prompts

Pick a prompt below that sounds intriguing to you. Take a moment to think about how you would provide a unique perspective on the subject. Or, simply use them as writing prompts to practice your craft!

First, we'll start with the informational nonfiction writing prompts. In other words, these are designed to solve a specific problem or explain something to the reader. These are often called expository nonfiction prompts.

1. Write about your health and fitness journey. Have you overcome any obstacles, tried any fad diets, or had any close calls? What can you share about your experience that can help others?

2. Write about your career or industry. How did you get to be where you are? What can you share about your experience that can help others?

3. Write about a skill that you have. How much time did you put into developing it? What practices worked best? What would you tell someone who is just now trying to learn the skill?

4. Explore your spirituality or religious beliefs. Finding ways to maintain your beliefs or practices is hard these days, so share with the reader how you've managed to do it, and how they can do it, too.

5. Write about finances. Are you better off than your peers? Have you been successful, or have you had major ups and downs? What can you share about your experience that can help others?

6. Are you an organized person? If so, write about how you stay organized. Don't skimp on the details of any systems or tactics you've developed!

7. Do you know how to maintain a home or a vehicle? If so, write a guide on how best to stay on top of regular maintenance while still saving time and money.

8. Have you overcome anxiety or stress? If so, share with readers how you stay on top of it while still functioning in society.

9. Do you know how to knit or make homemade decorations? If so, share your skills in a book or blog post.

10. Do you know all the best spots to eat, relax, or pass the time in your city? Write a guide of all the little-known gems to help people visiting for the first time.

Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts

Unless you're a subject matter expert, you may be more interested in the writing prompts below. With the creative writing prompts in this section, you have a little more freedom when it comes to writing style. You can rely heavily on personal experience with the following prompts , as well, just make sure you're telling a true story!

11. Write about the most impactful time in your life. What lessons did you learn that other people would be interested in?

12. What does it mean to be happy? Is it possible to be happy all the time? If so, how?

13. Have you done any traveling, whether foreign or domestic? If so, you could regale readers with travel-writing stories.

14. Are you a fan of historical nonfiction? This nonfiction genre requires a lot of research, but if you have a unique angle on a moment in our history, it could be well worth the effort.

15. Write about a person who has influenced you without ever having met you. See if you can find and interview others who've been similarly influenced.

The memoir is a creative nonfiction genre in which everyone can write. Although it's hard to sell these kinds of books unless you're a well-known figure, they're great for developing the writing skill it takes to craft other types of books and stories.

16. Using a series of cultural or worldwide events, tell the story of your life. Whether it's a historic law that passed or the release of an impactful movie, see if you can weave important moments in your life into an entertaining narrative.

17. What does truth mean to you? Present times from your own life where the truth was important.

18. Write about what is important to you now. Has it always been a priority, or has the definition of importance changed over your life?

19. Write about a trip that changed your life forever. This could be a vacation, a road trip, or a simple trip to the grocery store.

20. Write about your life by describing the good times you've had with any and all the pets you've had over the years.

If you want more memoir writing prompts, we have an entire article dedicated to this type of narrative nonfiction here .

If a full nonfiction book sounds like a bit much for you, a nonfiction essay may just be the best alternative. This is a personal story told from the heart. It can be about almost anything, but most of these essays generally have to do with one specific topic or moment in the writer's life.

21. Try your hand at literary journalism by writing a series of articles about your life and achievements from the point of view of an impartial journalist.

22. Write a short story in which you are the protagonist and you're dealing with a real-life scary or difficult situation. What really happened, and what could you have done differently?

23. Everyone's afraid of something. What's the biggest fear you've worked to overcome? And how did you do it?

24. Write a personal essay about how music has impacted your life. What songs were playing at important events in your life? How has music defined who you are?

25. What makes you a unique person? What makes you the same as others? Write an essay on what it means to be an individual in a world full of individuals.

26. Think about a person you deeply admire. Write about why you admire them, exploring things like their personality traits, goals, philosophies, and other positive qualities.

27. Write about a location that holds a special meaning for you. This could be a home, a town, or even an entire state. Discuss how this place has impacted your life.

28. Pick a piece of work that has resonated with you. This could be a book, a movie, or a piece of artwork. Explore the themes it explores and why it has resonated with you.

29. The search for purpose is tricky for some. Whether you have found a purpose or are still searching for one, discuss what this means to you.

30. Explore a belief or tradition that is meaningful to you. How has it influenced your life, and why is it important to you? What positive effects have come because of this belief or tradition?

There's a lot to like about being a creative nonfiction writer. In many ways, it requires the same skills as fiction writing, but with narrower parameters to keep you on track. No matter what kind of writing you like to do, the prompts above can help you hone your skills. But what about when you think you have an idea for a potential bestseller? Before you invest the time in writing the whole book (or the book proposal), it's worth vetting the idea. Luckily, this is easy to do with Publisher Rocket.

You can think of the information you get from Publisher Rocket as the foundation for your nonfiction writing career. You get insights directly from Amazon on:

Keywords – Metadata to position your nonfiction book on Amazon.
Competition – Allowing you to see what other nonfiction books are selling well and how stiff the competition is.
Categories – Allowing you to position your book in the right categories and subcategories to increase your chances of success.
Amazon Ads – Helping you quickly configure a list of profitable keywords for running ads to your published nonfiction book.

Check out Publisher Rocket here to learn more about using data to position your book for success on Amazon.

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A Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction

by Melissa Donovan | Mar 4, 2021 | Creative Writing | 12 comments

Try your hand at writing creative nonfiction.

Here at Writing Forward, we’re primarily interested in three types of creative writing: poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.

With poetry and fiction, there are techniques and best practices that we can use to inform and shape our writing, but there aren’t many rules beyond the standards of style, grammar, and good writing . We can let our imaginations run wild; everything from nonsense to outrageous fantasy is fair game for bringing our ideas to life when we’re writing fiction and poetry.

However, when writing creative nonfiction, there are some guidelines that we need to follow. These guidelines aren’t set in stone; however, if you violate them, you might find yourself in trouble with your readers as well as the critics.

What is Creative Nonfiction?

Telling True Stories (aff link).

What sets creative nonfiction apart from fiction or poetry?

For starters, creative nonfiction is factual. A memoir is not just any story; it’s a true story. A biography is the real account of someone’s life. There is no room in creative nonfiction for fabrication or manipulation of the facts.

So what makes creative nonfiction writing different from something like textbook writing or technical writing? What makes it creative?

Nonfiction writing that isn’t considered creative usually has business or academic applications. Such writing isn’t designed for entertainment or enjoyment. Its sole purpose is to convey information, usually in a dry, straightforward manner.

Creative nonfiction, on the other hand, pays credence to the craft of writing, often through literary devices and storytelling techniques, which make the prose aesthetically pleasing and bring layers of meaning to the context. It’s pleasurable to read.

According to Wikipedia:

Creative nonfiction (also known as literary or narrative nonfiction) is a genre of writing truth which 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.

Like other forms of nonfiction, creative nonfiction relies on research, facts, and credibility. While opinions may be interjected, and often the work depends on the author’s own memories (as is the case with memoirs and autobiographies), the material must be verifiable and accurately reported.

Creative Nonfiction Genres and Forms

There are many forms and genres within creative nonfiction:

Autobiography and biography
Personal essays
Literary journalism
Any topical material, such as food or travel writing, self-development, art, or history, can be creatively written with a literary angle

Let’s look more closely at a few of these nonfiction forms and genres:

Memoirs: A memoir is a long-form (book-length) written work. It is a firsthand, personal account that focuses on a specific experience or situation. One might write a memoir about serving in the military or struggling with loss. Memoirs are not life stories, but they do examine life through a particular lens. For example, a memoir about being a writer might begin in childhood, when the author first learned to write. However, the focus of the book would be on writing, so other aspects of the author’s life would be left out, for the most part.

Biographies and autobiographies: A biography is the true story of someone’s life. If an author composes their own biography, then it’s called an autobiography. These works tend to cover the entirety of a person’s life, albeit selectively.

Literary journalism: Journalism sticks with the facts while exploring the who, what, where, when, why, and how of a particular person, topic, or event. Biographies, for example, are a genre of literary journalism, which is a form of nonfiction writing. Traditional journalism is a method of information collection and organization. Literary journalism also conveys facts and information, but it honors the craft of writing by incorporating storytelling techniques and literary devices. Opinions are supposed to be absent in traditional journalism, but they are often found in literary journalism, which can be written in long or short formats.

Personal essays are a short form of creative nonfiction that can cover a wide range of styles, from writing about one’s experiences to expressing one’s personal opinions. They can address any topic imaginable. Personal essays can be found in many places, from magazines and literary journals to blogs and newspapers. They are often a short form of memoir writing.

Speeches can cover a range of genres, from political to motivational to educational. A tributary speech honors someone whereas a roast ridicules them (in good humor). Unlike most other forms of writing, speeches are written to be performed rather than read.

Journaling: A common, accessible, and often personal form of creative nonfiction writing is journaling. A journal can also contain fiction and poetry, but most journals would be considered nonfiction. Some common types of written journals are diaries, gratitude journals, and career journals (or logs), but this is just a small sampling of journaling options.

Writing Creative Nonfiction (aff link).

Any topic or subject matter is fair game in the realm of creative nonfiction. Some nonfiction genres and topics that offer opportunities for creative nonfiction writing include food and travel writing, self-development, art and history, and health and fitness. It’s not so much the topic or subject matter that renders a written work as creative; it’s how it’s written — with due diligence to the craft of writing through application of language and literary devices.

Guidelines for Writing Creative Nonfiction

Here are six simple guidelines to follow when writing creative nonfiction:

Get your facts straight. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing your own story or someone else’s. If readers, publishers, and the media find out you’ve taken liberties with the truth of what happened, you and your work will be scrutinized. Negative publicity might boost sales, but it will tarnish your reputation; you’ll lose credibility. If you can’t refrain from fabrication, then think about writing fiction instead of creative nonfiction.
Issue a disclaimer. A lot of nonfiction is written from memory, and we all know that human memory is deeply flawed. It’s almost impossible to recall a conversation word for word. You might forget minor details, like the color of a dress or the make and model of a car. If you aren’t sure about the details but are determined to include them, be upfront and include a disclaimer that clarifies the creative liberties you’ve taken.
Consider the repercussions. If you’re writing about other people (even if they are secondary figures), you might want to check with them before you publish your nonfiction. Some people are extremely private and don’t want any details of their lives published. Others might request that you leave certain things out, which they want to keep private. Otherwise, make sure you’ve weighed the repercussions of revealing other people’s lives to the world. Relationships have been both strengthened and destroyed as a result of authors publishing the details of other people’s lives.
Be objective. You don’t need to be overly objective if you’re telling your own, personal story. However, nobody wants to read a highly biased biography. Book reviews for biographies are packed with harsh criticism for authors who didn’t fact-check or provide references and for those who leave out important information or pick and choose which details to include to make the subject look good or bad.
Pay attention to language. You’re not writing a textbook, so make full use of language, literary devices, and storytelling techniques.
Know your audience. Creative nonfiction sells, but you must have an interested audience. A memoir about an ordinary person’s first year of college isn’t especially interesting. Who’s going to read it? However, a memoir about someone with a learning disability navigating the first year of college is quite compelling, and there’s an identifiable audience for it. When writing creative nonfiction, a clearly defined audience is essential.

Are you looking for inspiration? Check out these creative nonfiction writing ideas.

Ten creative nonfiction writing prompts and projects.

The prompts below are excerpted from my book, 1200 Creative Writing Prompts , which contains fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction writing prompts. Use these prompts to spark a creative nonfiction writing session.

1200 Creative Writing Prompts (aff link).

What is your favorite season? What do you like about it? Write a descriptive essay about it.
What do you think the world of technology will look like in ten years? Twenty? What kind of computers, phones, and other devices will we use? Will technology improve travel? Health care? What do you expect will happen and what would you like to happen?
Have you ever fixed something that was broken? Ever solved a computer problem on your own? Write an article about how to fix something or solve some problem.
Have you ever had a run-in with the police? What happened?
Have you ever traveled alone? Tell your story. Where did you go? Why? What happened?
Let’s say you write a weekly advice column. Choose the topic you’d offer advice on, and then write one week’s column.
Think of a major worldwide problem: for example, hunger, climate change, or political corruption. Write an article outlining a solution (or steps toward a solution).
Choose a cause that you feel is worthy and write an article persuading others to join that cause.
Someone you barely know asks you to recommend a book. What do you recommend and why?
Hard skills are abilities you have acquired, such as using software, analyzing numbers, and cooking. Choose a hard skill you’ve mastered and write an article about how this skill is beneficial using your own life experiences as examples.

Do You Write Creative Nonfiction?

Have you ever written creative nonfiction? How often do you read it? Can you think of any nonfiction forms and genres that aren’t included here? Do you have any guidelines to add to this list? Are there any situations in which it would be acceptable to ignore these guidelines? Got any tips to add? Do you feel that nonfiction should focus on content and not on craft? Leave a comment to share your thoughts, and keep writing.

Ready Set Write a Guide to Creative Writing

12 Comments

Shouldn’t ALL non-fiction be creative to some extent? I am a former business journalist, and won awards for the imaginative approach I took to writing about even the driest of business topics: pensions, venture capital, tax, employment law and other potentially dusty subjects. The drier and more complicated the topic, the more creative the approach must be, otherwise no-one with anything else to do will bother to wade through it. [to be honest, taking the fictional approach to these ghastly tortuous topics was the only way I could face writing about them.] I used all the techniques that fiction writers have to play with, and used some poetic techniques, too, to make the prose more readable. What won the first award was a little serial about two businesses run and owned by a large family at war with itself. Every episode centred on one or two common and crucial business issues, wrapped up in a comedy-drama, and it won a lot of fans (happily for me) because it was so much easier to read and understand than the dry technical writing they were used to. Life’s too short for dusty writing!

I believe most journalism is creative and would therefore fall under creative nonfiction. However, there is a lot of legal, technical, medical, science, and textbook writing in which there is no room for creativity (or creativity has not made its way into these genres yet). With some forms, it makes sense. I don’t think it would be appropriate for legal briefings to use story or literary devices just to add a little flair. On the other hand, it would be a good thing if textbooks were a little more readable.

I think Abbs is right – even in academic papers, an example or story helps the reader visualize the problem or explanation more easily. I scan business books to see if there are stories or examples, if not, then I don’t pick up the book. That’s where the creativity comes in – how to create examples, what to conflate, what to emphasis as we create our fictional people to illustrate important, real points.

Thanks for the post. Very helpful. I’d never thought about writing creative nonfiction before.

You’re welcome 🙂

Hi Melissa!

Love your website. You always give a fun and frank assessment of all things pertaining to writing. It is a pleasure to read. I have even bought several of the reference and writing books you recommended. Keep up the great work.

Top 10 Reasons Why Creative Nonfiction Is A Questionable Category

10. When you look up “Creative Nonfiction” in the dictionary it reads: See Fiction

9. The first creative nonfiction example was a Schwinn Bicycle Assembly Guide that had printed in its instructions: Can easily be assembled by one person with a Phillips head screw driver, Allen keys, adjustable wrench and cable cutters in less than an hour.

8. Creative Nonfiction; Based on actual events; Suggested by a true event; Based on a true story. It’s a slippery slope.

7. The Creative Nonfiction Quarterly is only read by eleven people. Five have the same last name.

6. Creative Nonfiction settings may only include: hospitals, concentration camps, prisons and cemeteries. Exceptions may be made for asylums, rehab centers and Capitol Hill.

5. The writers who create Sterile Nonfiction or Unimaginative Nonfiction now want their category recognized.

4. Creative; Poetic License; Embellishment; Puffery. See where this is leading?

3. Creative Nonfiction is to Nonfiction as Reality TV is to Documentaries.

2. My attorney has advised that I exercise my 5th Amendment Rights or that I be allowed to give written testimony in a creative nonfiction way.

1. People believe it is a film with Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson and Queen Latifa.

Hi Steve. I’m not sure if your comment is meant to be taken tongue-in-cheek, but I found it humorous.

My publisher is releasing my Creative Nonfiction book based on my grandmother’s life this May 2019 in Waikiki. I’ll give you an update soon about sales. I was fortunate enough to get some of the original and current Hawaii 5-0 members to show up for the book signing.

Hi, when writing creative nonfiction- is it appropriate to write from someone else’s point of view when you don’t know them? I was thinking of writing about Greta Thungbrurg for creative nonfiction competition – but I can directly ask her questions so I’m unsure as to whether it’s accurate enough to be classified as creative non-fiction. Thank you!

Hi Madeleine. I’m not aware of creative nonfiction being written in first person from someone else’s point of view. The fact of the matter is that it wouldn’t be creative nonfiction because a person cannot truly show events from another person’s perspective. So I wouldn’t consider something like that nonfiction. It would usually be a biography written in third person, and that is common. You can certainly use quotes and other indicators to represent someone else’s views and experiences. I could probably be more specific if I knew what kind of work it is (memoir, biography, self-development, etc.).

Dear Melissa: I am trying to market a book in the metaphysical genre about an experience I had, receiving the voice of a Civil War spirit who tells his story (not channeling). Part is my reaction and discussion with a close friend so it is not just memoir. I referred to it as ‘literary non-fiction’ but an agent put this down by saying it is NOT literary non-fiction. Looking at your post, could I say that my book is ‘creative non-fiction’? (agents can sometimes be so nit-picky)

Hi Liz. You opened your comment by classifying the book as metaphysical but later referred to it as literary nonfiction. The premise definitely sounds like a better fit in the metaphysical category. Creative nonfiction is not a genre; it’s a broader category or description. Basically, all literature is either fiction or nonfiction (poetry would be separate from these). Describing nonfiction as creative only indicates that it’s not something like a user guide. I think you were heading in the right direction with the metaphysical classification.

The goal of marketing and labeling books with genres is to find a readership that will be interested in the work. This is an agent’s area of expertise, so assuming you’re speaking with a competent agent, I’d suggest taking their advice in this matter. It indicates that the audience perusing the literary nonfiction aisles is simply not a match for this book.

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What is creative nonfiction? Despite its slightly enigmatic name, no literary genre has grown quite as quickly as creative nonfiction in recent decades. Literary nonfiction is now well-established as a powerful means of storytelling, and bookstores now reserve large amounts of space for nonfiction, when it often used to occupy a single bookshelf.

Like any literary genre, creative nonfiction has a long history; also like other genres, defining contemporary CNF for the modern writer can be nuanced. If you’re interested in writing true-to-life stories but you’re not sure where to begin, let’s start by dissecting the creative nonfiction genre and what it means to write a modern literary essay.

What Creative Nonfiction Is

Creative nonfiction employs the creative writing techniques of literature, such as poetry and fiction, to retell a true story.

How do we define creative nonfiction? What makes it “creative,” as opposed to just “factual writing”? These are great questions to ask when entering the genre, and they require answers which could become literary essays themselves.

In short, creative nonfiction (CNF) is a form of storytelling that employs the creative writing techniques of literature, such as poetry and fiction, to retell a true story. Creative nonfiction writers don’t just share pithy anecdotes, they use craft and technique to situate the reader into their own personal lives. Fictional elements, such as character development and narrative arcs, are employed to create a cohesive story, but so are poetic elements like conceit and juxtaposition.

The CNF genre is wildly experimental, and contemporary nonfiction writers are pushing the bounds of literature by finding new ways to tell their stories. While a CNF writer might retell a personal narrative, they might also focus their gaze on history, politics, or they might use creative writing elements to write an expository essay. There are very few limits to what creative nonfiction can be, which is what makes defining the genre so difficult—but writing it so exciting.

Different Forms of Creative Nonfiction

From the autobiographies of Mark Twain and Benvenuto Cellini, to the more experimental styles of modern writers like Karl Ove Knausgård, creative nonfiction has a long history and takes a wide variety of forms. Common iterations of the creative nonfiction genre include the following:

Also known as biography or autobiography, the memoir form is probably the most recognizable form of creative nonfiction. Memoirs are collections of memories, either surrounding a single narrative thread or multiple interrelated ideas. The memoir is usually published as a book or extended piece of fiction, and many memoirs take years to write and perfect. Memoirs often take on a similar writing style as the personal essay does, though it must be personable and interesting enough to encourage the reader through the entire book.

Personal Essay

Personal essays are stories about personal experiences told using literary techniques.

When someone hears the word “essay,” they instinctively think about those five paragraph book essays everyone wrote in high school. In creative nonfiction, the personal essay is much more vibrant and dynamic. Personal essays are stories about personal experiences, and while some personal essays can be standalone stories about a single event, many essays braid true stories with extended metaphors and other narratives.

Personal essays are often intimate, emotionally charged spaces. Consider the opening two paragraphs from Beth Ann Fennelly’s personal essay “ I Survived the Blizzard of ’79. ”

We didn’t question. Or complain. It wouldn’t have occurred to us, and it wouldn’t have helped. I was eight. Julie was ten.

We didn’t know yet that this blizzard would earn itself a moniker that would be silk-screened on T-shirts. We would own such a shirt, which extended its tenure in our house as a rag for polishing silver.

The word “essay” comes from the French “essayer,” which means “to try” or “attempt.” The personal essay is more than just an autobiographical narrative—it’s an attempt to tell your own history with literary techniques.

Lyric Essay

The lyric essay contains similar subject matter as the personal essay, but is much more experimental in form.

The lyric essay contains similar subject matter as the personal essay, with one key distinction: lyric essays are much more experimental in form. Poetry and creative nonfiction merge in the lyric essay, challenging the conventional prose format of paragraphs and linear sentences.

The lyric essay stands out for its unique writing style and sentence structure. Consider these lines from “ Life Code ” by J. A. Knight:

The dream goes like this: blue room of water. God light from above. Child’s fist, foot, curve, face, the arc of an eye, the symmetry of circles… and then an opening of this body—which surprised her—a movement so clean and assured and then the push towards the light like a frog or a fish.

What we get is language driven by emotion, choosing an internal logic rather than a universally accepted one.

Lyric essays are amazing spaces to break barriers in language. For example, the lyricist might write a few paragraphs about their story, then examine a key emotion in the form of a villanelle or a ghazal . They might decide to write their entire essay in a string of couplets or a series of sonnets, then interrupt those stanzas with moments of insight or analysis. In the lyric essay, language dictates form. The successful lyricist lets the words arrange themselves in whatever format best tells the story, allowing for experimental new forms of storytelling.

Literary Journalism

Much more ambiguously defined is the idea of literary journalism. The idea is simple: report on real life events using literary conventions and styles. But how do you do this effectively, in a way that the audience pays attention and takes the story seriously?

You can best find examples of literary journalism in more “prestigious” news journals, such as The New Yorker , The Atlantic , Salon , and occasionally The New York Times . Think pieces about real world events, as well as expository journalism, might use braiding and extended metaphors to make readers feel more connected to the story. Other forms of nonfiction, such as the academic essay or more technical writing, might also fall under literary journalism, provided those pieces still use the elements of creative nonfiction.

Consider this recently published article from The Atlantic : The Uncanny Tale of Shimmel Zohar by Lawrence Weschler. It employs a style that’s breezy yet personable—including its opening line.

So I first heard about Shimmel Zohar from Gravity Goldberg—yeah, I know, but she insists it’s her real name (explaining that her father was a physicist)—who is the director of public programs and visitor experience at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, in San Francisco.

How to Write Creative Nonfiction: Common Elements and Techniques

What separates a general news update from a well-written piece of literary journalism? What’s the difference between essay writing in high school and the personal essay? When nonfiction writers put out creative work, they are most successful when they utilize the following elements.

Just like fiction, nonfiction relies on effective narration. Telling the story with an effective plot, writing from a certain point of view, and using the narrative to flesh out the story’s big idea are all key craft elements. How you structure your story can have a huge impact on how the reader perceives the work, as well as the insights you draw from the story itself.

Consider the first lines of the story “ To the Miami University Payroll Lady ” by Frenci Nguyen:

You might not remember me, but I’m the dark-haired, Texas-born, Asian-American graduate student who visited the Payroll Office the other day to complete direct deposit and tax forms.

Because the story is written in second person, with the reader experiencing the story as the payroll lady, the story’s narration feels much more personal and important, forcing the reader to evaluate their own personal biases and beliefs.

Observation

Telling the story involves more than just simple plot elements, it also involves situating the reader in the key details. Setting the scene requires attention to all five senses, and interpersonal dialogue is much more effective when the narrator observes changes in vocal pitch, certain facial expressions, and movements in body language. Essentially, let the reader experience the tiny details – we access each other best through minutiae.

The story “ In Transit ” by Erica Plouffe Lazure is a perfect example of storytelling through observation. Every detail of this flash piece is carefully noted to tell a story without direct action, using observations about group behavior to find hope in a crisis. We get observation when the narrator notes the following:

Here at the St. Thomas airport in mid-March, we feel the urgency of the transition, the awareness of how we position our bodies, where we place our luggage, how we consider for the first time the numbers of people whose belongings are placed on the same steel table, the same conveyor belt, the same glowing radioactive scan, whose IDs are touched by the same gloved hand[.]

What’s especially powerful about this story is that it is written in a single sentence, allowing the reader to be just as overwhelmed by observation and context as the narrator is.

We’ve used this word a lot, but what is braiding? Braiding is a technique most often used in creative nonfiction where the writer intertwines multiple narratives, or “threads.” Not all essays use braiding, but the longer a story is, the more it benefits the writer to intertwine their story with an extended metaphor or another idea to draw insight from.

“ The Crush ” by Zsofia McMullin demonstrates braiding wonderfully. Some paragraphs are written in first person, while others are written in second person.

The following example from “The Crush” demonstrates braiding:

Your hair is still wet when you slip into the booth across from me and throw your wallet and glasses and phone on the table, and I marvel at how everything about you is streamlined, compact, organized. I am always overflowing — flesh and wants and a purse stuffed with snacks and toy soldiers and tissues.

The author threads these narratives together by having both people interact in a diner, yet the reader still perceives a distance between the two threads because of the separation of “I” and “you” pronouns. When these threads meet, briefly, we know they will never meet again.

Speaking of insight, creative nonfiction writers must draw novel conclusions from the stories they write. When the narrator pauses in the story to delve into their emotions, explain complex ideas, or draw strength and meaning from tough situations, they’re finding insight in the essay.

Often, creative writers experience insight as they write it, drawing conclusions they hadn’t yet considered as they tell their story, which makes creative nonfiction much more genuine and raw.

The story “ Me Llamo Theresa ” by Theresa Okokun does a fantastic job of finding insight. The story is about the history of our own names and the generations that stand before them, and as the writer explores her disconnect with her own name, she recognizes a similar disconnect in her mother, as well as the need to connect with her name because of her father.

The narrator offers insight when she remarks:

I began to experience a particular type of identity crisis that so many immigrants and children of immigrants go through — where we are called one name at school or at work, but another name at home, and in our hearts.

How to Write Creative Nonfiction: the 5 R’s

CNF pioneer Lee Gutkind developed a very system called the “5 R’s” of creative nonfiction writing. Together, the 5 R’s form a general framework for any creative writing project. They are:

Write about r eal life: Creative nonfiction tackles real people, events, and places—things that actually happened or are happening.
Conduct extensive r esearch: Learn as much as you can about your subject matter, to deepen and enrich your ability to relay the subject matter. (Are you writing about your tenth birthday? What were the newspaper headlines that day?)
(W) r ite a narrative: Use storytelling elements originally from fiction, such as Freytag’s Pyramid , to structure your CNF piece’s narrative as a story with literary impact rather than just a recounting.
Include personal r eflection: Share your unique voice and perspective on the narrative you are retelling.
Learn by r eading: The best way to learn to write creative nonfiction well is to read it being written well. Read as much CNF as you can, and observe closely how the author’s choices impact you as a reader.

You can read more about the 5 R’s in this helpful summary article .

How to Write Creative Nonfiction: Give it a Try!

Whatever form you choose, whatever story you tell, and whatever techniques you write with, the more important aspect of creative nonfiction is this: be honest. That may seem redundant, but often, writers mistakenly create narratives that aren’t true, or they use details and symbols that didn’t exist in the story. Trust us – real life is best read when it’s honest, and readers can tell when details in the story feel fabricated or inflated. Write with honesty, and the right words will follow!

Ready to start writing your creative nonfiction piece? If you need extra guidance or want to write alongside our community, take a look at the upcoming nonfiction classes at Writers.com. Now, go and write the next bestselling memoir!

Sean Glatch

Thank you so much for including these samples from Hippocampus Magazine essays/contributors; it was so wonderful to see these pieces reflected on from the craft perspective! – Donna from Hippocampus

Absolutely, Donna! I’m a longtime fan of Hippocampus and am always astounded by the writing you publish. We’re always happy to showcase stunning work 🙂

I like how it is written about him”…When he’s not writing, which is often, he thinks he should be writing.”

[…] Source: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/a-complete-guide-to-writing-creative-nonfiction#5-creative-nonfiction-writing-promptshttps://writers.com/what-is-creative-nonfiction […]

So impressive

Thank you. I’ve been researching a number of figures from the 1800’s and have come across a large number of ‘biographies’ of figures. These include quoted conversations which I knew to be figments of the author and yet some works are lauded as ‘histories’.

excellent guidelines inspiring me to write CNF thank you

Examples of Creative Nonfiction: What It Is & How to Write It

When most people think of creative writing, they picture fiction books – but there are plenty of examples of creative nonfiction. In fact, creative nonfiction is one of the most interesting genres to read and write. So what is creative nonfiction exactly?

More and more people are discovering the joy of getting immersed in content based on true life that has all the quality and craft of a well-written novel. If you are interested in writing creative nonfiction, it’s important to understand different examples of creative nonfiction as a genre.

If you’ve ever gotten lost in memoirs so descriptive that you felt you’d walked in the shoes of those people, those are perfect examples of creative nonfiction – and you understand exactly why this genre is so popular.

But is creative nonfiction a viable form of writing to pursue? What is creative nonfiction best used to convey? And what are some popular creative nonfiction examples?

Today we will discuss all about this genre, including plenty of examples of creative nonfiction books – so you’ll know exactly how to write it.

This Guide to Creative Nonfiction Covers:

Need A Nonfiction Book Outline?

What is Creative Nonfiction?

Creative nonfiction is defined as true events written about with the techniques and style traditionally found in creative writing . We can understand what creative nonfiction is by contrasting it with plain-old nonfiction.

Think about news or a history textbook, for example. These nonfiction pieces tend to be written in very matter-of-fact, declarative language. While informative, this type of nonfiction often lacks the flair and pleasure that keep people hooked on fictional novels.

Imagine there are two retellings of a true crime story – one in a newspaper and the other in the script for a podcast. Which is more likely to grip you? The dry, factual language, or the evocative, emotionally impactful creative writing?

Podcasts are often great examples of creative nonfiction – but of course, creative nonfiction can be used in books too. In fact, there are many types of creative nonfiction writing. Let’s take a look!

Types of creative nonfiction

Creative nonfiction comes in many different forms and flavors. Just as there are myriad types of creative writing, there are almost as many types of creative nonfiction.

Some of the most popular types include:

Literary nonfiction

Literary nonfiction refers to any form of factual writing that employs the literary elements that are more commonly found in fiction. If you’re writing about a true event (but using elements such as metaphor and theme) you might well be writing literary nonfiction.

Writing a life story doesn’t have to be a dry, chronological depiction of your years on Earth. You can use memoirs to creatively tell about events or ongoing themes in your life.

If you’re unsure of what kind of creative nonfiction to write, why not consider a creative memoir? After all, no one else can tell your life story like you.

Nature writing

The beauty of the natural world is an ongoing source of creative inspiration for many people, from photographers to documentary makers. But it’s also a great focus for a creative nonfiction writer. Evoking the majesty and wonder of our environment is an endless source of material for creative nonfiction.

Travel writing

If you’ve ever read a great travel article or book, you’ll almost feel as if you’ve been on the journey yourself. There’s something special about travel writing that conveys not only the literal journey, but the personal journey that takes place.

Writers with a passion for exploring the world should consider travel writing as their form of creative nonfiction.

For types of writing that leave a lasting impact on the world, look no further than speeches. From a preacher’s sermon, to ‘I have a dream’, speeches move hearts and minds like almost nothing else. The difference between an effective speech and one that falls on deaf ears is little more than the creative skill with which it is written.

Biographies

Noteworthy figures from history and contemporary times alike are great sources for creative nonfiction. Think about the difference between reading about someone’s life on Wikipedia and reading about it in a critically-acclaimed biography.

Which is the better way of honoring that person’s legacy and achievements? Which is more fun to read? If there’s someone whose life story is one you’d love to tell, creative nonfiction might be the best way to do it.

So now that you have an idea of what creative nonfiction is, and some different ways you can write it, let’s take a look at some popular examples of creative nonfiction books and speeches.

Examples of Creative Nonfiction

Here are our favorite examples of creative nonfiction:

1. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

No list of examples of creative nonfiction would be complete without In Cold Blood . This landmark work of literary nonfiction by Truman Capote helped to establish the literary nonfiction genre in its modern form, and paved the way for the contemporary true crime boom.

2. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast is undeniably one of the best creative memoirs ever written. It beautifully reflects on Hemingway’s time in Paris – and whisks you away into the cobblestone streets.

3. World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

If you’re looking for examples of creative nonfiction nature writing, no one does it quite like Aimee Nezhukumatathil. World of Wonders is a beautiful series of essays that poetically depicts the varied natural landscapes she enjoyed over the years.

4. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson is one of the most beloved travel writers of our time. And A Walk in the Woods is perhaps Bryson in his peak form. This much-loved travel book uses creativity to explore the Appalachian Trail and convey Bryson’s opinions on America in his humorous trademark style.

5. The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

While most of our examples of creative nonfiction are books, we would be remiss not to include at least one speech. The Gettysburg Address is one of the most impactful speeches in American history, and an inspiring example for creative nonfiction writers.

6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Few have a way with words like Maya Angelou. Her triumphant book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings , shows the power of literature to transcend one’s circumstances at any time. It is one of the best examples of creative nonfiction that truly sucks you in.

7. Hiroshima by John Hershey

Hiroshima is a powerful retelling of the events during (and following) the infamous atomic bomb. This journalistic masterpiece is told through the memories of survivors – and will stay with you long after you’ve finished the final page.

8. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

If you haven’t read the book, you’ve probably seen the film. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert is one of the most popular travel memoirs in history. This romp of creative nonfiction teaches us how to truly unmake and rebuild ourselves through the lens of travel.

9. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Never has language learning brought tears of laughter like Me Talk Pretty One Day . David Sedaris comically divulges his (often failed) attempts to learn French with a decidedly sadistic teacher, and all the other mishaps he encounters in his fated move from New York to Paris.

10. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Many of us had complicated childhoods, but few of us experienced the hardships of Jeannette Walls. In The Glass Castle , she gives us a transparent look at the betrayals and torments of her youth and how she overcame them with grace – weaving her trauma until it reads like a whimsical fairytale.

Now that you’ve seen plenty of creative nonfiction examples, it’s time to learn how to write your own creative nonfiction masterpiece.

Tips for Writing Creative Nonfiction

Writing creative nonfiction has a lot in common with other types of writing. (You won’t be reinventing the wheel here.) The better you are at writing in general, the easier you’ll find your creative nonfiction project. But there are some nuances to be aware of.

Writing a successful creative nonfiction piece requires you to:

Choose a form

Before you commit to a creative nonfiction project, get clear on exactly what it is you want to write. That way, you can get familiar with the conventions of the style of writing and draw inspiration from some of its classics.

Try and find a balance between a type of creative nonfiction you find personally appealing and one you have the skill set to be effective at.

Gather the facts

Like all forms of nonfiction, your creative project will require a great deal of research and preparation. If you’re writing about an event, try and gather as many sources of information as possible – so you can imbue your writing with a rich level of detail.

If it’s a piece about your life, jot down personal recollections and gather photos from your past.

Plan your writing

Unlike a fictional novel, which tends to follow a fairly well-established structure, works of creative nonfiction have a less clear shape. To avoid the risk of meandering or getting weighed down by less significant sections, structure your project ahead of writing it.

You can either apply the classic fiction structures to a nonfictional event or take inspiration from the pacing of other examples of creative nonfiction you admire.

You may also want to come up with a working title to inspire your writing. Using a free book title generator is a quick and easy way to do this and move on to the actual writing of your book.

Draft in your intended style

Unless you have a track record of writing creative nonfiction, the first time doing so can feel a little uncomfortable. You might second-guess your writing more than you usually would due to the novelty of applying creative techniques to real events. Because of this, it’s essential to get your first draft down as quickly as possible.

Rewrite and refine

After you finish your first draft, only then should you read back through it and critique your work. Perhaps you haven’t used enough source material. Or maybe you’ve overdone a certain creative technique. Whatever you happen to notice, take as long as you need to refine and rework it until your writing feels just right.

Ready to Wow the World With Your Story?

You know have the knowledge and inspiring examples of creative nonfiction you need to write a successful work in this genre. Whether you choose to write a riveting travel book, a tear-jerking memoir, or a biography that makes readers laugh out loud, creative nonfiction will give you the power to convey true events like never before.

Who knows? Maybe your book will be on the next list of top creative nonfiction examples!

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Creative Nonfiction in Writing Courses

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Introduction

Creative nonfiction is a broad term and encompasses many different forms of writing. This resource focuses on the three basic forms of creative nonfiction: the personal essay, the memoir essay, and the literary journalism essay. A short section on the lyric essay is also discussed.

The Personal Essay

The personal essay is commonly taught in first-year composition courses because students find it relatively easy to pick a topic that interests them, and to follow their associative train of thoughts, with the freedom to digress and circle back.

The point to having students write personal essays is to help them become better writers, since part of becoming a better writer is the ability to express personal experiences, thoughts and opinions. Since academic writing may not allow for personal experiences and opinions, writing the personal essay is a good way to allow students further practice in writing.

The goal of the personal essay is to convey personal experiences in a convincing way to the reader, and in this way is related to rhetoric and composition, which is also persuasive. A good way to explain a personal essay assignment to a more goal-oriented student is simply to ask them to try to persuade the reader about the significance of a particular event.

Most high-school and first-year college students have plenty of experiences to draw from, and they are convinced about the importance of certain events over others in their lives. Often, students find their strongest conviction in the process of writing, and the personal essay is a good way to get students to start exploring these possibilities in writing.

A personal essay assignment can work well as a prelude to a research paper, because personal essays will help students understand their own convictions better, and will help prepare them to choose research topics that interest them.

An Example and Discussion of a Personal Essay

The following excerpt from Wole Soyinka's (Nigerian Nobel Laureate) Why Do I Fast? is an example of a personal essay. What follows is a short discussion of Soyinka's essay.

Soyinka begins with a question that fascinates him. He doesn’t feel required to immediately answer the question in the second paragraph. Rather, he takes time to consider his own inclination to believe that there is a connection between fasting and sensuality.

Soyinka follows the flowing associative arc of his thoughts, and he goes on to write about sunsets, and quotes from a poem that he wrote in his cell. The essay ends, not on a restatement of his thesis, but on yet another question that arises:

This question remains unanswered. Soyinka is not interested in even attempting to answer it. The personal essay doesn’t necessarily seek to make sense out of life experiences; rather, personal essays tend to let go of that sense-making impulse to do something else, like nose around a bit in the wondering, uncertain space that lies between experience and the need to organize it in a logical manner.

However informal the personal essay may seem, it’s important to keep in mind that, as Dinty W. Moore says in The Truth of the Matter: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction , “the essay should always be motivated by the author’s genuine interest in wrestling with complex questions.”

Generating Ideas for Personal Essays

In The Truth of the Matter: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction , Moore goes on to explain an effective way to help students generate ideas for personal essays:

“Think about ten things you care about deeply: the environment, children in poverty, Alzheimer’s research (because your grandfather is a victim), hip-hop music, Saturday afternoon football games. Make your own list of ten important subjects, and then narrow the larger subject down to specific subjects you might write about. The environment? How about that bird sanctuary out on Township Line Road that might be torn down to make room for a megastore?..."

"...What is it like to be the food service worker who puts mustard on two thousand hot dogs every Saturday afternoon? Don’t just wonder about it - talk to the mustard spreader, spend an afternoon hanging out behind the counter, spread some mustard yourself. Transform your list of ten things into a longer list of possible story ideas. Don’t worry for now about whether these ideas would take a great amount of research, or might require special permission or access. Just write down a master list of possible stories related to your ideas and passions. Keep the list. You may use it later.”

It is this flexibility of form in the personal essay that makes it easy for students who are majoring in engineering, nutrition, graphic design, finance, management, etc. to adapt, learn and practice. The essay can be a more worldly form of writing than poetry or fiction, so students from various backgrounds, majors, jobs and cultures can express interesting and powerful thoughts and feelings in them.

The essay is more worldly than poetry and fiction in another sense: it allows for more of the world and its languages, its arts and food, its sport and business, its travel and politics, its sciences and entertainment, to be present, valid and important.

The Essay as Bouquet

"Hermit crab" essays can take many forms, both natural and not

Ambrose Bierce, the American editorialist and journalist, wrote in his 1909 craft book, Write It Right , that “good writing” is “clear thinking made visible,” an idea that has been repeated and adapted by countless writers over the past century. My own addition would be to add that the act of lyric essay writing not only makes thoughts visible but also institutes order and layers meaning when it is not always immediately apparent. And although ideas may begin free-form or as stream of consciousness, on the page or screen, we make the jump from internal to external. We craft them into a form, whether chronological or otherwise. One such approach to form is the “hermit crab” essay, so named by Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola in their craft book Tell It Slant . Miller later defined it in an article for Brevity as “adopt[ing] already existing forms as the container for the writing at hand, such as the essay in the form of a ‘to-do’ list, or a field guide, or a recipe.” This approach creates meaning by juxtaposing the personal story with its imposed “container,” allowing the more traditional narrative to be in conversation with our personal, cultural, and/or scientific assumptions and understandings of the chosen form.

“Hermit crabs,” Miller explains, “are creatures born without their own shells to protect them; they need to find empty shells to inhabit (or sometimes not so empty; in the years since I’ve begun using the hermit crab as my metaphor, I’ve learned they can be quite vicious, evicting the shell’s rightful inhabitant by force).” Ironically, however, most containers that writers find are of the nonorganic variety: a shopping list, a course syllabus—not unlike the hermit crab who makes its home inside a bottle cap. Here, we will look at a few examples that do employ natural forms as a container, encouraging a conversation between the human-made and the natural world.

Chelsea Biondolillo’s “On Shells” from Essay Daily is, at first glance, a fragmented essay that alternates between the narratives of the author learning to beachcomb as a child, the author becoming a writer and teacher, and the background on shell collectors. At first, it appears the essay resists form when our author implies she didn’t initially embrace the imposed form of a hermit crab essay because it felt contrived. But as we move through the essay, the fragments take on their own form: that of shell collecting and of nature itself. Biondolillo tells us at the end that she has learned that writing “practice is inefficient by design. Collect as many tools and forms and voices and structures as you can so that you are as well-equipped as possible when you sit down to work.” So is beachcombing a practice of collecting the best of random bits, your own practice of creating order. She says she has learned not to be as “worried about the prize at the end of the page” as she once was; every essay we read and write will have a literal end, but there will also never be an end. The essay is about the journey, the collection of random bits, and what the resulting collection means when the pieces are looked at as a whole. And so Biondolillo’s imposed form as an act of shell collecting, reinforced by the small pictures of shells on the page between each fragment, helps illustrate that while nature can be random, as we find meaning in nature, so we also find that this randomness can—and does—forge its own form.

Yet one may also rightfully argue that nature is not entirely random, but has developed clear and consistent taxonomies, cycles, and behaviors. In Jennifer Lunden’s “The Butterfly Effect” (first published in this magazine), we learn about the life cycle of butterflies in a series of encyclopedia-like entries that also serve as the form to tell the story of the author’s own connection to butterflies, beginning in adolescence. Yet, in the early sections, like “Metamorphosis,” “Migration,” and “Habitat,” we learn as much about how these terms apply to our author’s own life as to the butterflies she is traveling, in this essay, to see.

And then our narrative—and our encyclopedic structure—spins outward. We learn about “The Butterfly Lady,” who found healing amongst the butterflies in California. The threads of these three parallel stories—the author’s, the Butterfly Lady’s, and that of the butterflies themselves—woven together form a single whole, a container. Is the container the form of the scientific encyclopedia entry? If so, we can reflect on what this says about humans imposing form on nature; after all, it is we who insist on categorization, on creating a narrative out of the sometimes disparate layers of a natural phenomenon. Or is our container the cocoon that is spun outward, protecting the chrysalis as it transforms? I would argue it is both: our encyclopedia headers look outward to “Monsanto” and “Global Warming,” and how these affect the environment not only of the butterfly but also of the author, and, in fact, of all humans. This form—or, one might argue, this dual form—reflects human imposition on nature as well as the inverse: how we define nature, yes, but also how our decisions affect it. The repetition of the headers “Migration” and “Habitat” also creates a cyclical movement often at odds with human written narration, though it is frequently seen in nature: in seasons, metamorphosis, life and death. As these threads diverge and converge, we also see wildness and humanity doing the same, ending with our word for a natural occurrence—susurrus—which would exist whether humans witnessed and named it or not.

Finally, Julie Marie Wade’s “Bouquet,” originally published in Third Coast and reprinted in her book Wishbone: A Memoir in Fractures , is itself a bouquet that pairs the name, horticultural descriptions, growing tendencies, and cultural relevance of different kinds of flowers with scenes or reflections. The personal reflects the natural, both through the flowers’ innate tendencies and the symbolism culture imposes on them. For example, a brief explanation of why the long-lasting cornflower is known as “bachelor’s button” is paired with the story of a relationship as well as Wade’s struggle to accept her own sexual identity. What makes the bouquet an appropriate container is the interplay of the natural characteristics of each flower—those that humans cannot control—with the cultural import we have given many of these flowers, as well as the symbolism of the bouquet as an object. The bouquet is a human form made of nature—a collection of (in this case) disparate flowers, cut and contained and most often given as a gesture of love. A bouquet, too, is a sum of its parts. Each flower can and does exist on its own in the wild, but in relation to others in our human-made form, each plays a particular role. Here is the author’s literary bouquet: a collection of the personal blooms that make up the story she is telling—a bouquet the reader believes, by the end of reading, to be a gift to her beloved. As in both Biondolillo’s and Lunden’s essays, there is always the tension of seeing a natural form in its native habitat—a shell, a butterfly, a flower—and the human manipulation of it.

Can we ever not see nature through the lens of our humanness?

As I began my own investigation into nature-influenced hermit crab essays, I thought I would find numerous essays that used the infinite unblemished forms found in our natural world as a perfect metaphor and container for our very human and imperfect stories. But I found it challenging to unearth many examples of nature-as-form, and those I did find built upon the interplay of the natural world and human influence. Perhaps this only makes sense: can we ever not see nature through the lens of our humanness, especially as we strive to use it as a container to help make sense of our own stories and experiences?

Perhaps Biondolillo best expresses the essence of what a hermit crab essay is: “Acuity to see the unbroken curve of aperture against all of the chips and shards the sea has thrown up, to see the unblemished whorl, the striations in deep relief among the smooth nubs of wood, the distracting pebbles of glass, the wet strings and sheets of seaweed, already rotting in the first light of morning.” At first reading, I interpreted this to be an appreciation of nature and an effort to emulate its “unbroken curve” and “unblemished whorl” in one’s writing. But maybe that’s not the whole story. The hermit crab essay as inspired by nature can be formed from the broken “chips and shards” and the “distracting pebbles of glass.” Are these imperfect bits manmade or from nature? And does it matter? They are all part of the world in which we live: nature influenced by humans and humans inspired by nature—and all of us if not rotting, then certainly evolving in each new morning’s light.

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50 Creative Nonfiction Prompts Guaranteed to Inspire
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