Creative nonfiction (often referred to as creative non-fiction) is a genre of writing that can be fun, rewarding, and most importantly, flexible! Not everything you write will fit perfectly into a short story, novellen, or novel—but that’s okay!
As you write, you may find that ideas come to you seemingly out of nowhere. That’s totally normal! Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start, so you might end up avoiding writing altogether. But that’s where GUIDELINES FOR WRITERS & Creative Nonfiction by Mary Kay Kane and Stephen King come in. These two renowned authorities on the craft of writing guide you through the process of writing creatively nonfiction, offering advice on everything from generating ideas to structuring your first draft.
How to Generate Ideas For Creative Nonfiction
Mary Kay Kane and Stephen King lay out six steps to help you generate ideas for your creative nonfiction projects.
The first step is to determine if the genre is right for you. Both authors suggest that you write what you know, what you experience, or what you feel. If you’re not sure what to write about, ask yourself questions or seek advice from those who know better than you. For example, if you’re not sure if personal essays are right for you, ask other writers for feedback or visit a literary agent and see what he or she has to say about your work.
Next, you need to determine what you’ll need to include in your project to make it work. The more details you can include, the more successful your project will be. For instance, if you’re writing about being a new mom, include everything from nursery rhymes to sleepless nights. However, you don’t need to include everything you know about parenting. Limit yourself to the essential details you need to include to make the project work.
Step Two: Make A List Of Your Idea
With your idea in mind, make a list of everything you can think of that relates to it. Make a list of places, people, things, and ideas that you associate with your topic. Once you’ve made the list, you can start to organize it and remove all the things that are irrelevant or don’t apply. This will help you stay focused on what’s important while cutting out all the extra details that don’t necessarily need to be there. By doing this, you’ll be able to create a more coherent project that will make your readers feel like they’re seeing everything you want them to see.
Step Three: Set Up Regular Writing Sessions
Writing is an important part of the creative nonfiction process, so take the time to do it regularly. Whether you have a few minutes here and there, or set aside an entire evening, the results will be the same. The more you write, the better you get, so don’t be afraid to put in the time and effort.
Step Four: Read Creative Nonfiction
To continue developing your ideas, you need to read a variety of creative nonfiction. This will give you the opportunity to see what other writers have done and how you can improve your own work. You can also add to what you’ve read, which is why it’s important to stay current with the genre.
Step Five: Re-Write And Revise
If you wrote down everything you could think of that relates to your topic, you’re already well on your way to a successful first draft. Now it’s time to re-write and revise. When you re-write and revise your work, you’re allowing yourself the opportunity to become more familiar with your story, to find the right words to express yourself, and to fix any major mistakes you make along the way. Rewriting and revising is an important part of any creative process, and it will help you bring your best work to the table. It’s never finished, so always be sure to keep improving your work even after you’ve finished the draft.
Step Six: Find A Niche
If you’ve followed all of the steps up to this point, you’re already equipped to write about anything you want. But if you want your work to be read, you need to find a niche. What is a niche? Think of all the publications that could potentially be interested in your work (i.e. parenting magazine, business magazine, fiction magazine). Once you’ve found that niche, you can develop a specific audience and target the right people with your work. For example, if you’re a writer for a parenting magazine, you might want to consider writing about different parenting styles or the struggles that new parents face. You can also use the internet to your advantage to research the demographics that may be interested in your work. With enough targeted research, you can craft an audience that matches your niche, and boom—you have a ready-to-go audience!
As you can see, there is more than one way to write creative nonfiction. But don’t be afraid to experiment and find the process that works best for you. No two projects are ever going to be the same, and that’s what makes it so much fun. So go ahead and write that novel, short story, or essay you’ve been thinking about!