Telling True Stories
Navigating the Challenges of Writing Narrative Non-Fiction
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
An invaluable guideĀ to the key challenges in writing narrative non-fiction, showing how some of the best in the business do it
It's etched into our neurological pathways; we can't live without it. Telling true stories is one of the things that makes us human, and a strong narrative has the power to profoundly change the way we think. Truman Capote's groundbreaking In Cold Blood set the tone and narrative non-fiction now appears in print and online journalism as well as in books. Capote's work is also a classic case study of the thorny issues arising in telling true stories: how to maintain editorial independence while becoming close to your subject, how far to take the narrative when reporting on real events, whether an "omniscient narrative voice" is appropriate for non fiction, and what kind of relationship to create with the reader. The stakes are high: true stories deal with real people, often at turning points in their lives. Matthew Ricketson uncovers the techniques of some of the best international practitioners from the U.S., Australia, and Britain, and shows how to produce authentic, vibrant, and memorable writing.
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Information
Table of contents
- COVER PAGE
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT PAGE
- DEDICATION
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
- 1. WHY TRUE STORIES MATTER
- 2. WHAT MAKES A TRUE STORY?
- 3. LEARNING FROM THE JOURNALISTIC METHOD
- 4. LEARNING FROM THE NOVELISTāS SENSIBILITY
- 5. THE JANET MALCOLM DILEMMA: DEVELOPING TRUST WITH PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND KEEPING EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE
- 6. THE VALUE OF THINKING ABOUT WHAT IS FACT AND WHAT IS FICTION BEFORE WRITING
- 7. THE NARRATORāS VOICE: MORE THAN A QUESTION OF WRITERLY CHOICE
- 8. DESCRIPTION: FINDING THE BALANCE BETWEEN VIVID INTIMACY AND UNNECESSARY HURTFULNESS
- 9. WHAT IF YOU WERENāT THERE? THE DIFFICULTIES OF RECONSTRUCTING SCENES AND DIALOGUE
- 10. INTERIOR MONOLOGUES: ARE THEY āONE MORE DOORBELL TO PUSHā, OR THE PROVINCE OF FICTION?
- 11. WHAT DO READERS EXPECT OF NARRATIVE NON-FICTION?
- 12. BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP OF INFORMED TRUST WITH READERS
- CONCLUSION
- A CHECKLIST FOR WRITERS OF NARRATIVE NON-FICTION
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY