FORMS AND TYPES OF
CREATIVE NONFICTION
Understanding Various
Forms And Types
Biography
O a self-written life story.
O most commonly defined as “the biography of
a person narrated by that person”, or “the story
of a person's life as told by him or herself”.
How do I write a biography about myself?
O Introduce yourself. Start your bio with a brief
introduction that shows who you are. ...
O Keep it concise. Start with a word count in
mind. ...
O Use third person. It may feel strange or even
challenging to write about yourself. ...
O Write strategically. ...
O Include your contact information. ...
O Edit thoroughly.
How do you start a biography
essay?
O Start with a quote either by or about your
subject. Something that really reveals the
essence of who they were/are.
O Include a fascinating story or anecdote about
them.
O Describe an incredible accomplishment they
achieved.
Autobiography
O or simply bio, is a detailed description of a
person's life.
O It involves more than just the basic facts like
education, work, relationships, and death; it
portrays a person's experience of these life
events.
PT 1
O Write your biography, write a biography of
another person.
O Biography 500-1000 words.
O Submission: October 23
Memoir
O Also known as biography or autobiography, the
memoir form is probably the most recognizable
form of creative nonfiction.
O collections of memories, either surrounding a
single narrative thread or multiple interrelated
ideas.
Memoir
O The memoir is usually published as a book or
extended piece of fiction, and many memoirs
take years to write and perfect.
O 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 narrative
O When you write about an event or experience
that has personally happened to you.
O It has a beginning, middle and an ending.
O Written in first person using pronouns; me,
my, I, we or myself.
Blog/(Vlog)
O a web log: a website containing short articles
called posts that are changed regularly.
O Some blogs are written by one person
O containing his/her own opinion, interests and
experiences
O while others are written by many different
people.
Critique
O a critical discussion or review that
describes, summarizes, analyzes, and
evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of a
work.
O It is written in paragraph form.
Peer critique
O Peer critique, a specialized form of critique, is
the common practice of writers reviewing and
providing constructive criticism of each
other's work before that work is turned in for
credit or professional review.
Reflective/reflection essay
O The writer examines his or her experiences in life.
O The writer then writes about those experiences,
exploring how he or she has changed, developed
or grown from those experiences.
O Some major elements go into a typical reflective
essay: introduction, body and conclusion.
Reportage
O a kind of literary journalism that reports on
an event,
O history or an actual case based on direct
observation, investigation or thorough
research and documentation.
Reportage
O Also a term for an eye-witness genre of
journalism: an individual journalist's report of
news, especially when witnessed firsthand,
distributed through the media. ...
O This is perhaps more commonly called
creative nonfiction and is closely related to
News Journalism.
Testimonio
O literally, a solemn attestation as to the truth of a
matter.
O In literature, it is an oral or written
autobiographical narrative referred to as
“testimonial literature.” The term
“testimonio” refers to a kind of writing which
comes from Latin America dealing with
experiences of human rights abuse.
Travelogue
O a story of the experiences encountered by
someone while touring a place for the pleasure
of travel.
