Truth of the Matter, The: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction

Truth of the Matter, The: Art and Craft in Creative Nonfiction

• Step-by-step approach illustrates for students how detail, description, and voice interweave to create a full essay.
• Essays from contemporary nonfiction writers such as Henry Louis Gates, Norma Elia Cantú, Pico Iyer, Joan Didion, and others are integrated into the chapters to illustrate concepts.
• Questions of truth and creativity are addressed directly, showing where fiction and nonfiction diverge, and helping students enter the discussion around memory and objectivity.
• Part IV, "The Anthology," exposes students to various approaches to and styles of the creative nonfiction form, including brief essays and essays on the craft.
• "Writing Prompts" offer realistic and attainable writing goals, inspiring confidence in beginning writers, and provide a ready storehouse of raw material for future essays.
• Examples of the ‘sudden’ nonfiction essay (under 750 words) allow students to experience a wide variety of styles and approaches. Instructors are given the option to assign brief essays or use them only as illustrations of the building blocks of nonfiction writing.
• A strong focus on revision, interwoven throughout the text, provides a variety of tactics and approaches and presents revision as an integral step in the writing process.