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Literary Journalism

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Creative non-fiction is also known as literary journalism.

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It's the art of telling a true story as if it were fiction, using scenes, shifting viewpoints, dialogue and well-rendered prose.

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How to Write Creative Non-Fiction

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Step 1Start with a well-researched true story.

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Step 2Create the plot. A fiction story has a specific plot structure that holds a reader's attention.

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Your story must fit this structure

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For instance, your lead character must be shown to be living a normal life when something happens to pull him or her away from that life.

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There must be an object of desire the lead character wants, and obstacles placed in his or her path.

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There must be a moment when it seems all is lost, a resolution and a denouement, when things return to normal.

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Step 3Flesh out your characters.

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You must show their personalities and motivations, moments of indecision and temptations that lead them astray.

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Step 4Work on setting.

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Your setting is a real place; your job is to bring the reader there.

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Describe the season, the traffic noise, the sterility of the office or the smells from the corner eatery.

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Step 5Decide on a point of view.

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Which character or characters will tell the story?

How much will they know?

Do you need a narrator?

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Step 6Add literary touches

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Give some thought to things like theme, symbolism, style and irony.

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Step 7Review your finished story and make sure everything is true.

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If you added a character, made up dialogue or described events that never took place, you've moved away from literary non-fiction to fiction based on fact.

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Personal essays and memoirs constitute two significant strands of contemporary creative nonfiction.

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Personal essays, on the whole, are mostly based on the reflective account of a remarkable experience in the life of the author/narrator, along with a more opinionated stance.

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The personal essay is more about the thought process of the author as he embarks, along with the reader to the journey of his mental world.

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Throughout the journey, the reader becomes involved with the subtle shades and nuances of the author’s thought process.

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The mark of a memorable personal essay is the amalgamation of memory, emotions and sensations of the author that make the piece alive, vivid and compelling.

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While personal essays are almost always exclusively based on personal experiences, throughout the narrative, the author sincerely tries to convey what he feels about those experiences.

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The Reporter’s Shopping List

Setting: where, when

Characters: who

Complication: what happens/why

Process of resolving/responding: who did what and why

Resolution: where does it stand at deadline

Closure: the final what is ‘so what’

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Jimi Kayodeadebola adegunwa school of communication,Lagos State University,Lagos.

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