Popular in Arts and Humanities

Arts and Humanities

Titus Quinctius Flamininus’ “Italian triumph”

McGill University Michael Fronda

Arts and Humanities

Lincoln and the Jews

Brandeis University Jonathan Sarna

Arts and Humanities

Amputations and Convalescence

University of Western Australia Emily Brink

Art

Drawing on the past: Palladio, his precursors and knowledge of ancient architecture

University of Birmingham David Hemsoll

Art

Language, Sound, and Image in Wallace Berman’s Aleph, 1956–1966

University of San Diego Chelsea Behle Fralick

Arts and Humanities

Early Modern Natural Law Theories

University of Copenhagen Knud Haakonssen

Acetylene Torch Songs Writing True Stories to Ignite the Soul

View more insights in Arts and Humanities - Books - Literature

View more figures from Vermont College of Fine Arts

View the page of Sue William Silverman

Read the Study

Acetylene Torch Songs aids memoirists and essayists seeking mentorship. Sue William Silverman promotes craftiness and practice over theory.

Image courtesy of interviewee. March 7, 2024

Generating Workspace

Export as PDF

This video video is a discussion about the author's motivation and insights gained from writing a craft book on creative nonfiction. The author emphasizes the significance of personal narratives and aims to inspire both beginner and experienced writers to explore their own stories. The author advocates for understanding and validating the genre of creative nonfiction, which is often misunderstood as overly reflective or lacking depth.

Key points include the importance of writing from the soul, taking emotional risks, and being vulnerable in storytelling. The author describes the process of crafting personal essays and memoirs, highlighting the need to develop an "aware voice" that reflects on experiences rather than merely recounting them.

The author also shares the idea that memory is fluid and personal, encouraging writers to trust their own narratives and express their truths without worrying about external opinions. The book includes personal essays to illustrate the craft principles discussed in each chapter, emphasizing the collaborative learning experience between the author and their students.

Ultimately, the author asserts that creative nonfiction is as artful as poetry or fiction, aiming to transform personal experiences into compelling narratives that resonate on a deeper level with readers.

Language:

Export as PDF

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.365 --> 00:03.485
Probably the biggest motivation was my, abiding love

00:03.665 --> 00:06.685
for the craft and the genre of creative nonfiction.

00:07.125 --> 00:10.525
I really believe in the importance of personal narrative

00:11.105 --> 00:13.925
and by writing a craft book, of course, I hope

00:13.945 --> 00:16.845
to motivate others to write their stories as well.

00:17.865 --> 00:20.405
And it's not just for beginning writers

00:21.245 --> 00:23.685
'cause I feel that, you know, even more advanced writers,

00:23.785 --> 00:26.845
we can all get stuck on a personal essay or a memoir.

00:27.345 --> 00:29.405
So in some ways, I guess I hope that my book,

00:29.505 --> 00:32.685
if you are feeling stuck, that it might sort of unstick you

00:32.905 --> 00:35.765
so that you can kind of move forward with your,

00:36.065 --> 00:37.365
narrative.

00:37.745 --> 00:42.055
Um, and I think, creative nonfiction is sort

00:42.055 --> 00:45.095
of the perfect genre for ordinary people

00:45.835 --> 00:47.815
and underrepresented voices,

00:48.435 --> 00:52.695
but feel that they have an important, story to tell,

00:53.075 --> 00:55.655
you know, a, a life that's worth exploring.

00:56.395 --> 00:59.975
Um, and I think it's important to depict this kind

00:59.975 --> 01:04.855
of universality, of kind of seemingly ordinary lives.

01:05.355 --> 01:09.095
Um, but I also wrote the book

01:09.285 --> 01:13.255
because the genre is very misunderstood.

01:13.385 --> 01:15.055
There are a lot of naysayers

01:15.355 --> 01:19.415
and critics who accuse, creative nonfiction writers

01:19.715 --> 01:21.135
as naval gazers.

01:21.995 --> 01:23.895
And like, there's, I'm gonna share

01:23.895 --> 01:25.135
with you this one headline

01:25.135 --> 01:27.655
that was in the New York Times book review.

01:27.655 --> 01:29.695
It was a review of three memoirs,

01:29.715 --> 01:32.495
and it said, quote, living

01:32.675 --> 01:35.495
and examine life may be worth living

01:36.085 --> 01:38.455
writing about it is another matter.

01:38.915 --> 01:41.655
So there's just this put content put down of,

01:41.955 --> 01:45.055
of creative nonfiction that of course, makes me so annoyed

01:45.055 --> 01:46.895
that it makes me wanna write it even more.

01:47.715 --> 01:50.455
But there's really, it's a lack of understanding

01:50.545 --> 01:54.535
among critics that creative nonfiction is

01:54.635 --> 01:58.175
or can be as artful as fiction or poetry.

01:59.715 --> 02:02.855
Now that said, you have to make your memoir

02:02.875 --> 02:07.055
or your personal essay into art, which is to say that you go

02:07.075 --> 02:08.695
beyond just like, this happened

02:08.695 --> 02:09.895
to me or what happened to me.

02:10.795 --> 02:13.975
Uh, so you can't just like recount an experience.

02:14.955 --> 02:18.375
And to do that, I have a chapter in the book on voice.

02:19.075 --> 02:22.255
So it's a matter of implementing sort of an unaware voice

02:22.645 --> 02:23.935
with an aware voice.

02:24.515 --> 02:28.015
And this aware voice is the narrator

02:28.015 --> 02:31.415
who explores the metaphor of the experience,

02:31.675 --> 02:35.895
who reflects on the experience, who can delve deep into sort

02:35.895 --> 02:37.775
of the story behind the story.

02:38.435 --> 02:40.535
So that a story is kind

02:40.535 --> 02:44.095
of seemingly about me could also be about you

02:44.095 --> 02:47.215
because a reader identifies with a sort

02:47.455 --> 02:49.775
of underlying, emotions.

02:50.445 --> 02:53.895
It's not traditional, academic research.

02:54.595 --> 02:57.335
So when writing a settling torch songs, I really,

02:57.475 --> 02:58.695
learned

02:58.955 --> 03:03.565
Through, several decades of writing about, myself.

03:04.145 --> 03:07.005
Uh, I have two memoirs and three essay collections.

03:07.465 --> 03:10.645
So the research did occur over many decades

03:10.985 --> 03:12.445
of self-exploration.

03:13.235 --> 03:15.805
Also, I've been teaching creative nonfiction for 20 years.

03:16.105 --> 03:19.405
So of course that also helps with the research.

03:19.765 --> 03:21.765
'cause you have to, to teach, obviously you have

03:21.765 --> 03:24.045
to understand your topic with deep intention.

03:25.145 --> 03:27.525
But then it's a matter of sort of deconstructing

03:27.525 --> 03:31.285
what I learned from the writing in order to sort of clearly

03:32.195 --> 03:35.005
explain the craft issues to the reader.

03:35.345 --> 03:38.885
For example, in the chapter on voice, you know, I,

03:38.965 --> 03:42.965
I already mentioned that aware voice and the unaware voice.

03:43.305 --> 03:44.765
So I came up with those terms.

03:44.925 --> 03:47.805
I invented those terms in order to show

03:48.345 --> 03:52.445
how we do fully realize ourselves as narrators,

03:53.345 --> 03:56.525
in order, you know, really to turn our lives into art.

03:56.785 --> 03:59.965
So I came up with those terms, in order to explain

03:59.985 --> 04:03.005
how voice works in creative nonfiction,

04:03.905 --> 04:07.285
or like, another concept that I invented was sort

04:07.285 --> 04:11.085
of this idea of masks in creative nonfiction

04:11.085 --> 04:14.965
and how we kind of create a sort of metaphoric mask

04:15.825 --> 04:18.885
as we reveal ourselves as narrators.

04:19.505 --> 04:22.085
So I, I guess I would say that the research is sort

04:22.085 --> 04:25.085
of a combination of having written, having taught,

04:25.465 --> 04:28.485
and then invention of and discovery of terms

04:28.625 --> 04:32.485
and concepts so that they make sense to the reader.

04:33.475 --> 04:35.245
It's, it's kind of a matter of

04:36.285 --> 04:39.365
simplifying concepts without being simplistic.

04:40.185 --> 04:43.605
Um, but then the other thing is that the book,

04:44.025 --> 04:47.725
in addition to having chapters on craft, I also wrote

04:48.525 --> 04:52.645
personal essays to accompany each chapter that would kind

04:52.645 --> 04:55.285
of highlight the concerns of that chapter.

04:55.715 --> 04:58.925
It's like I couldn't ask a reader to sort of trust me

04:58.985 --> 05:01.925
and follow my, my guidelines

05:01.925 --> 05:03.485
and stuff if I couldn't do it myself.

05:03.905 --> 05:07.285
So I had to, so I did write personal essays to,

05:07.395 --> 05:10.645
also help sort of highlight the concerns of each chapter.

05:10.755 --> 05:15.645
Traditionally, in a writing classroom, we are taught to kind

05:15.645 --> 05:20.205
of embody the self on the page, which means to sort of write

05:20.205 --> 05:23.125
through the five senses to make ourselves very tangible.

05:23.945 --> 05:26.845
So somewhere along the way I realize

05:26.845 --> 05:29.485
that it's equally important, if not more important,

05:29.785 --> 05:34.125
to also in soul, like E-N-S-O-U-L in soul,

05:34.345 --> 05:36.205
the writer on the page as well.

05:36.955 --> 05:41.125
Because to me, soul is the origin

05:41.425 --> 05:43.805
of creativity and sort of imagination.

05:44.585 --> 05:48.765
So the soul is the birthplace of sort of the magic

05:48.865 --> 05:51.565
and the mystery of writing as well.

05:52.155 --> 05:54.205
It's where we sort of find our empathy

05:54.625 --> 05:58.285
and the ability to achieve deep self-exploration.

05:59.105 --> 06:00.325
So as we write,

06:01.215 --> 06:04.245
we're really turning our souls into art.

06:04.785 --> 06:08.405
So to write from the soul means that,

06:08.665 --> 06:10.045
you don't wanna write safe.

06:10.425 --> 06:12.245
You wanna take emotional risks,

06:12.385 --> 06:16.725
you wanna take aesthetic risks, you want to be vulnerable

06:17.105 --> 06:18.405
to reveal your soul.

06:19.465 --> 06:22.565
And, once you have courage to write your truth,

06:23.715 --> 06:26.805
then the craft of the genre, you know, that voice,

06:26.825 --> 06:29.445
the metaphor, the structure that sort

06:29.445 --> 06:31.285
of arises from the soul.

06:32.025 --> 06:35.245
And just to give you an example, so one of my,

06:35.555 --> 06:37.245
memoirs is called Lovesick,

06:37.785 --> 06:40.445
and it's about recovering from a sexual addiction.

06:41.105 --> 06:44.205
Now, when I started writing it, you know, I, I, well I felt

06:44.225 --> 06:46.765
so much shame around it that I want to write the book,

06:46.765 --> 06:48.165
but I didn't really want to sort

06:48.165 --> 06:50.845
of expose my unhealthy behaviors.

06:51.145 --> 06:52.965
Now, obviously you can't do that.

06:53.105 --> 06:55.045
You have to, you know, be vulnerable and,

06:55.045 --> 06:56.125
and put yourself out there.

06:57.065 --> 06:59.645
But, but for a long time I sort of,

06:59.765 --> 07:01.485
I was very scared about writing it.

07:01.785 --> 07:04.645
But then what I had to do is I really had to lean into

07:04.645 --> 07:08.805
that idea of courage, lean into my soul in order to, to,

07:08.825 --> 07:10.325
to let myself be vulnerable

07:10.825 --> 07:13.245
and to share my truths on the page.

07:14.545 --> 07:19.325
So we write creative nonfiction to engage with our readers

07:20.025 --> 07:23.725
in a very deeply intentional way, so

07:23.725 --> 07:25.885
that in some ways it almost is like sort

07:25.885 --> 07:27.845
of a soul touching a soul.

07:28.155 --> 07:31.085
Like if I'm writing from a very vulnerable place,

07:31.745 --> 07:34.525
my soul hopefully will touch a reader's soul.

07:35.705 --> 07:40.285
And the soul really holds all the elements together

07:40.825 --> 07:42.765
of the craft, the emotion, the aesthetic

07:42.905 --> 07:44.845
of creative nonfiction so

07:44.845 --> 07:48.805
that we are writing in this very kind of holistic way

07:49.425 --> 07:52.525
in order to produce an authentic work of art.

07:53.205 --> 07:55.645
I teach at a low residency MFA

07:55.645 --> 07:58.565
and writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

07:59.465 --> 08:03.685
And so the more I write, of course the more I understand

08:04.245 --> 08:07.605
creative nonfiction and sort of as many manifestations,

08:08.235 --> 08:11.365
then the better, you know, able I am to teach it.

08:11.985 --> 08:15.965
Um, now creative nonfiction, it's sort of this umbrella term

08:16.895 --> 08:21.645
under which is like memoir, personal essay lyric, essay,

08:21.645 --> 08:25.165
meditative essay, segmented essay.

08:25.985 --> 08:28.965
So of course, you know, I have to learn all

08:28.965 --> 08:32.445
of these sub-genres as, as well as I invented some of my own

08:33.145 --> 08:34.605
in order to better teach.

08:35.425 --> 08:39.365
Um, but of course I also learn from my students in

08:39.365 --> 08:42.965
that if they're struggling with a craft issue, I mean,

08:42.975 --> 08:45.485
let's say they're writing an essay

08:46.065 --> 08:49.325
and they don't know sort of what structure it should sort

08:49.325 --> 08:52.285
of sit in, then we kind of work

08:52.285 --> 08:54.765
as a team together and try different

08:54.765 --> 08:55.765
Things together. Like,

08:55.765 --> 08:59.525
does this essay need, a traditional structure?

08:59.975 --> 09:03.005
Maybe it needs a more exp experimental form.

09:03.375 --> 09:07.805
Maybe it should be written, you know, as a,

09:07.865 --> 09:09.565
as a list, essay.

09:09.565 --> 09:13.405
But we have to try different things, in order to,

09:14.065 --> 09:16.885
you know, figure out the best way for this,

09:17.135 --> 09:18.325
essay to sort of sit.

09:18.785 --> 09:20.245
So, you know, they learned from me

09:20.505 --> 09:23.285
and I learned from them as we kind of, you know,

09:23.515 --> 09:26.725
writing is a very sort of lonely art form,

09:26.785 --> 09:29.205
but you know, coming together really

09:29.205 --> 09:30.325
helps, I think both of us.

09:31.185 --> 09:34.045
And then the other thing, so for Vermont College

09:34.045 --> 09:36.645
of Fine Arts is this really strong dynamic writing

09:36.675 --> 09:40.845
community, and I think that that helps all of us as well.

09:40.985 --> 09:43.485
So, you know, on a really bad day of writing,

09:43.865 --> 09:47.085
you do have a community to kind of lift you up and

09:47.345 --> 09:49.365
or on a good day, you know, we'll all sort

09:49.365 --> 09:50.965
of celebrate your success.

09:51.185 --> 09:54.885
But, it's really, they really do work hand in hand.

09:54.945 --> 09:58.525
And I would say, as much as I love to write,

09:59.485 --> 10:01.005
I also really love to teach.

10:01.105 --> 10:03.925
And I love that engagement of working.

10:04.345 --> 10:06.845
You know, being a low residency, I have a chance to sort

10:06.845 --> 10:08.405
of work one-on-one with the writer.

10:09.185 --> 10:11.325
And you know, you form very intense

10:11.625 --> 10:13.205
and you know, intimate bonds.

10:14.305 --> 10:17.405
So this is a Lene tort songs writing true stories

10:17.585 --> 10:18.965
to ignite the soul.

10:19.745 --> 10:24.085
And this essay is from a chapter on sort

10:24.085 --> 10:26.685
of discovering our obsessions through metaphor.

10:26.865 --> 10:29.125
And I'm just gonna read a couple of minutes of it.

10:29.475 --> 10:30.685
It's called The Robbery.

10:32.605 --> 10:36.065
For my 10th birthday, a jeweler designed a ring

10:36.205 --> 10:38.065
for me in the shape of a flower.

10:38.825 --> 10:41.225
I lived on the island of St. Thomas at the time.

10:41.725 --> 10:45.705
And this jeweler, whose last name was the same as that

10:45.705 --> 10:49.025
of a brand named Handgun, presented it

10:49.025 --> 10:52.585
to me in a blue velvet box opening it,

10:52.965 --> 10:56.425
my hands warmed as if saturated in magic.

10:57.225 --> 11:00.145
I believed the ring contained mystical powers,

11:00.405 --> 11:03.025
the way it nestled on pure white satin.

11:04.005 --> 11:06.505
Mr. Handgun slipped it on my finger.

11:07.325 --> 11:11.745
Its scold petals curled inward around five small diamonds

11:12.125 --> 11:15.785
by birthstone as a protecting the tender center

11:15.885 --> 11:17.665
of the flower, what Mr.

11:17.895 --> 11:19.905
Handgun called its ovary.

11:20.045 --> 11:22.585
Though I didn't understand that word back then,

11:23.335 --> 11:27.505
wearing the ring, I felt sophisticated like the tourists.

11:28.205 --> 11:30.905
As I strolled the streets of Charlotte Amelee

11:31.685 --> 11:34.625
before the ring, I'd only felt like a little girl.

11:35.545 --> 11:36.985
I frequently visited Mr.

11:37.255 --> 11:41.825
Handgun shop after school today with no cruise ship in port.

11:42.115 --> 11:46.545
There weren't any customers. Mr. Handgun was not in sight.

11:47.125 --> 11:50.185
The displays glittered, emeralds, rubies, gold

11:50.185 --> 11:52.225
and silver necklaces bright

11:52.405 --> 11:56.685
as the sun sparked Caribbean sea at times, Mr.

11:56.995 --> 11:59.085
Handgun let me model the jewelry.

11:59.805 --> 12:03.085
I would stare at myself in a mirror, imagining

12:03.145 --> 12:06.685
how I might one day appear as an adult woman.

12:07.385 --> 12:10.205
In those moments, I was an adult woman.

12:11.835 --> 12:16.495
Now I heard a small sound. I wasn't alone after all.

12:17.715 --> 12:20.775
Uh, Russell emanated from behind the blue curtain,

12:21.315 --> 12:23.815
his workshop, I almost called out

12:23.815 --> 12:25.255
to alert him to my presence.

12:25.555 --> 12:28.415
So he wouldn't think I was a thief.

12:29.405 --> 12:32.925
I didn't, A sudden voice might startle him,

12:33.225 --> 12:34.685
he might ruin a gem.

12:35.035 --> 12:36.765
Instead, I walked to the curtain,

12:37.365 --> 12:41.525
I trailed my hand along the edge, I nudged it aside,

12:42.465 --> 12:45.005
and I'll leave it there because maybe a reader would want

12:45.005 --> 12:48.485
to know what happens after I nudged the curtain aside.

12:49.025 --> 12:52.805
But throughout the, essay, it turns out how this ring

12:53.705 --> 12:56.845
is, does become sort of a metaphor for myself.

12:57.625 --> 13:02.285
So creative nonfiction, it really is a deep exploration

13:02.285 --> 13:06.245
of self-exploration or deep commitment to self-exploration

13:06.825 --> 13:10.725
and to sort of embrace the idea of taking risks

13:11.305 --> 13:14.085
and following the narrative wherever it leads.

13:14.745 --> 13:16.925
So, you know, it's kind, sort of don't hold back.

13:17.385 --> 13:19.845
You know, if you do, you're really not kind

13:19.845 --> 13:21.125
of writing from your soul.

13:22.385 --> 13:27.045
And I also wanna encourage writers to trust their memories.

13:27.545 --> 13:30.285
For example, if I'm writing about a time when I was growing

13:30.345 --> 13:31.885
up, so I have an older sister,

13:32.625 --> 13:34.325
so theoretically I could ask her

13:34.325 --> 13:38.485
what she remembers about an event, but why would I do that?

13:38.715 --> 13:41.485
Because like, her memory is gonna be different from my

13:41.485 --> 13:42.765
memory as well as should be.

13:43.185 --> 13:45.685
And since I'm writing my narrative, I have

13:45.685 --> 13:47.285
to trust my own narrative.

13:48.025 --> 13:50.085
But I think many beginning,

13:50.195 --> 13:54.125
writers don't fully bel Well, they might believe it,

13:54.125 --> 13:56.605
but it's hard to sort of trust it to sort

13:56.605 --> 13:57.805
of trust their memories.

13:58.305 --> 14:01.525
But so it's important to remember that when writing memoir

14:01.525 --> 14:02.925
or creative nonfiction,

14:03.945 --> 14:06.445
and which is to say that we're writing our memories.

14:06.915 --> 14:08.965
That memory is supposed to be fluid.

14:09.425 --> 14:11.885
You know, how do you feel about an event now

14:12.625 --> 14:15.285
is different from how you felt about it maybe five years

14:15.305 --> 14:16.725
ago, or how you might feel about it

14:16.725 --> 14:18.045
five years in the future.

14:18.945 --> 14:21.645
So don't worry what others might think.

14:21.715 --> 14:25.445
Just trust yourself, claim your truth, be courageous.

14:25.755 --> 14:28.005
Know that your voice is really important.

14:29.385 --> 14:32.845
And I also kind of split the process into two parts.

14:33.425 --> 14:35.285
So the first, the most important thing is

14:35.285 --> 14:37.165
to get your narrative down on paper.

14:37.395 --> 14:40.885
Just write it. Don't think about the outside world.

14:40.885 --> 14:42.125
That's kind of step two.

14:42.665 --> 14:46.165
So first and foremost, write your narrative, get it down.

14:46.745 --> 14:49.325
And then if you do wanna worry about whether your

14:49.325 --> 14:50.485
memory was right or wrong,

14:50.925 --> 14:53.885
I mean, and there is no right or wrong, just,

14:54.065 --> 14:55.925
or you, if you wanna worry about

14:55.925 --> 14:58.685
what the world might think about you, you know, put

14:58.685 --> 15:00.685
that off till later if you feel like you really

15:00.705 --> 15:01.845
do need to worry about it.

15:02.005 --> 15:04.445
I try not to worry about what anybody thinks about me,

15:04.465 --> 15:08.885
but, you know, but just have those, have those two

15:09.935 --> 15:11.165
parts separated.

15:11.255 --> 15:13.365
First write then think about

15:13.365 --> 15:14.765
what people might think about you.

15:15.625 --> 15:19.005
So just in sum, it's really important to know

15:19.355 --> 15:23.965
that creative nonfiction is an artful genre as artful

15:23.985 --> 15:28.245
as poetry, or fiction.

15:28.785 --> 15:32.005
And so ignore the people who wanna try to dismiss it

15:32.545 --> 15:36.005
and just know that writing personal narratives really is

15:36.005 --> 15:37.965
turning your life into art.

15:38.445 --> 15:38.565
I.

00:00 - Probably the biggest motivation was my, abiding love for the craft and the genre of creative nonfiction. I really believe in the importance of personal narrative and by writing a craft book, of course, I hope to motivate others to write their stories as well. And it's not just for beginning writers

00:21 - 'cause I feel that, you know, even more advanced writers, we can all get stuck on a personal essay or a memoir. So in some ways, I guess I hope that my book, if you are feeling stuck, that it might sort of unstick you so that you can kind of move forward with your, narrative. and I think, creative nonfiction is sort of the perfect genre for ordinary people and underrepresented voices, but feel that they have an important, story to tell,

00:53 - you know, a, a life that's worth exploring. and I think it's important to depict this kind of universality, of kind of seemingly ordinary lives. but I also wrote the book because the genre is very misunderstood. There are a lot of naysayers and critics who accuse, creative nonfiction writers as naval gazers. And like, there's, I'm gonna share with you this one headline

01:25 - that was in the New York Times book review. It was a review of three memoirs, and it said, quote, living and examine life may be worth living writing about it is another matter. So there's just this put content put down of, of creative nonfiction that of course, makes me so annoyed that it makes me wanna write it even more. But there's really, it's a lack of understanding among critics that creative nonfiction is

01:54 - or can be as artful as fiction or poetry. Now that said, you have to make your memoir or your personal essay into art, which is to say that you go beyond just like, this happened to me or what happened to me. so you can't just like recount an experience. And to do that, I have a chapter in the book on voice. So it's a matter of implementing sort of an unaware voice with an aware voice. And this aware voice is the narrator

02:28 - who explores the metaphor of the experience, who reflects on the experience, who can delve deep into sort of the story behind the story. So that a story is kind of seemingly about me could also be about you because a reader identifies with a sort of underlying, emotions. It's not traditional, academic research. So when writing a settling torch songs, I really, learned

02:58 - Through, several decades of writing about, myself. I have two memoirs and three essay collections. So the research did occur over many decades of self-exploration. Also, I've been teaching creative nonfiction for 20 years. So of course that also helps with the research. 'cause you have to, to teach, obviously you have to understand your topic with deep intention. But then it's a matter of sort of deconstructing what I learned from the writing in order to sort of clearly

03:32 - explain the craft issues to the reader. For example, in the chapter on voice, you know, I, I already mentioned that aware voice and the unaware voice. So I came up with those terms. I invented those terms in order to show how we do fully realize ourselves as narrators, in order, you know, really to turn our lives into art. So I came up with those terms, in order to explain how voice works in creative nonfiction, or like, another concept that I invented was sort

04:07 - of this idea of masks in creative nonfiction and how we kind of create a sort of metaphoric mask as we reveal ourselves as narrators. So I, I guess I would say that the research is sort of a combination of having written, having taught, and then invention of and discovery of terms and concepts so that they make sense to the reader. It's, it's kind of a matter of simplifying concepts without being simplistic. but then the other thing is that the book,

04:44 - in addition to having chapters on craft, I also wrote personal essays to accompany each chapter that would kind of highlight the concerns of that chapter. It's like I couldn't ask a reader to sort of trust me and follow my, my guidelines and stuff if I couldn't do it myself. So I had to, so I did write personal essays to, also help sort of highlight the concerns of each chapter. Traditionally, in a writing classroom, we are taught to kind of embody the self on the page, which means to sort of write

05:20 - through the five senses to make ourselves very tangible. So somewhere along the way I realize that it's equally important, if not more important, to also in soul, like E-N-S-O-U-L in soul, the writer on the page as well. Because to me, soul is the origin of creativity and sort of imagination. So the soul is the birthplace of sort of the magic and the mystery of writing as well. It's where we sort of find our empathy

05:54 - and the ability to achieve deep self-exploration. So as we write, we're really turning our souls into art. So to write from the soul means that, you don't wanna write safe. You wanna take emotional risks, you wanna take aesthetic risks, you want to be vulnerable to reveal your soul. And, once you have courage to write your truth, then the craft of the genre, you know, that voice,

06:26 - the metaphor, the structure that sort of arises from the soul. And just to give you an example, so one of my, memoirs is called Lovesick, and it's about recovering from a sexual addiction. Now, when I started writing it, you know, I, I, well I felt so much shame around it that I want to write the book, but I didn't really want to sort of expose my unhealthy behaviors. Now, obviously you can't do that.

06:53 - You have to, you know, be vulnerable and, and put yourself out there. But, but for a long time I sort of, I was very scared about writing it. But then what I had to do is I really had to lean into that idea of courage, lean into my soul in order to, to, to let myself be vulnerable and to share my truths on the page. So we write creative nonfiction to engage with our readers in a very deeply intentional way, so

07:23 - that in some ways it almost is like sort of a soul touching a soul. Like if I'm writing from a very vulnerable place, my soul hopefully will touch a reader's soul. And the soul really holds all the elements together of the craft, the emotion, the aesthetic of creative nonfiction so that we are writing in this very kind of holistic way in order to produce an authentic work of art. I teach at a low residency MFA

07:55 - and writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. And so the more I write, of course the more I understand creative nonfiction and sort of as many manifestations, then the better, you know, able I am to teach it. now creative nonfiction, it's sort of this umbrella term under which is like memoir, personal essay lyric, essay, meditative essay, segmented essay. So of course, you know, I have to learn all of these sub-genres as, as well as I invented some of my own in order to better teach.

08:35 - but of course I also learn from my students in that if they're struggling with a craft issue, I mean, let's say they're writing an essay and they don't know sort of what structure it should sort of sit in, then we kind of work as a team together and try different Things together. Like, does this essay need, a traditional structure? Maybe it needs a more exp experimental form. Maybe it should be written, you know, as a,

09:07 - as a list, essay. But we have to try different things, in order to, you know, figure out the best way for this, essay to sort of sit. So, you know, they learned from me and I learned from them as we kind of, you know, writing is a very sort of lonely art form, but you know, coming together really helps, I think both of us. And then the other thing, so for Vermont College

09:34 - of Fine Arts is this really strong dynamic writing community, and I think that that helps all of us as well. So, you know, on a really bad day of writing, you do have a community to kind of lift you up and or on a good day, you know, we'll all sort of celebrate your success. But, it's really, they really do work hand in hand. And I would say, as much as I love to write, I also really love to teach. And I love that engagement of working.

10:04 - You know, being a low residency, I have a chance to sort of work one-on-one with the writer. And you know, you form very intense and you know, intimate bonds. So this is a Lene tort songs writing true stories to ignite the soul. And this essay is from a chapter on sort of discovering our obsessions through metaphor. And I'm just gonna read a couple of minutes of it. It's called The Robbery.

10:32 - For my 10th birthday, a jeweler designed a ring for me in the shape of a flower. I lived on the island of St. Thomas at the time. And this jeweler, whose last name was the same as that of a brand named Handgun, presented it to me in a blue velvet box opening it, my hands warmed as if saturated in magic. I believed the ring contained mystical powers, the way it nestled on pure white satin. Mr. Handgun slipped it on my finger.

11:07 - Its scold petals curled inward around five small diamonds by birthstone as a protecting the tender center of the flower, what Mr. Handgun called its ovary. Though I didn't understand that word back then, wearing the ring, I felt sophisticated like the tourists. As I strolled the streets of Charlotte Amelee before the ring, I'd only felt like a little girl. I frequently visited Mr. Handgun shop after school today with no cruise ship in port.

11:42 - There weren't any customers. Mr. Handgun was not in sight. The displays glittered, emeralds, rubies, gold and silver necklaces bright as the sun sparked Caribbean sea at times, Mr. Handgun let me model the jewelry. I would stare at myself in a mirror, imagining how I might one day appear as an adult woman. In those moments, I was an adult woman. Now I heard a small sound. I wasn't alone after all. Russell emanated from behind the blue curtain,

12:21 - his workshop, I almost called out to alert him to my presence. So he wouldn't think I was a thief. I didn't, A sudden voice might startle him, he might ruin a gem. Instead, I walked to the curtain, I trailed my hand along the edge, I nudged it aside, and I'll leave it there because maybe a reader would want to know what happens after I nudged the curtain aside. But throughout the, essay, it turns out how this ring

12:53 - is, does become sort of a metaphor for myself. So creative nonfiction, it really is a deep exploration of self-exploration or deep commitment to self-exploration and to sort of embrace the idea of taking risks and following the narrative wherever it leads. So, you know, it's kind, sort of don't hold back. You know, if you do, you're really not kind of writing from your soul. And I also wanna encourage writers to trust their memories. For example, if I'm writing about a time when I was growing

13:30 - up, so I have an older sister, so theoretically I could ask her what she remembers about an event, but why would I do that? Because like, her memory is gonna be different from my memory as well as should be. And since I'm writing my narrative, I have to trust my own narrative. But I think many beginning, writers don't fully bel Well, they might believe it, but it's hard to sort of trust it to sort

13:56 - of trust their memories. But so it's important to remember that when writing memoir or creative nonfiction, and which is to say that we're writing our memories. That memory is supposed to be fluid. You know, how do you feel about an event now is different from how you felt about it maybe five years ago, or how you might feel about it five years in the future. So don't worry what others might think.

14:21 - Just trust yourself, claim your truth, be courageous. Know that your voice is really important. And I also kind of split the process into two parts. So the first, the most important thing is to get your narrative down on paper. Just write it. Don't think about the outside world. That's kind of step two. So first and foremost, write your narrative, get it down. And then if you do wanna worry about whether your memory was right or wrong,

14:50 - I mean, and there is no right or wrong, just, or you, if you wanna worry about what the world might think about you, you know, put that off till later if you feel like you really do need to worry about it. I try not to worry about what anybody thinks about me, but, you know, but just have those, have those two parts separated. First write then think about what people might think about you.

15:15 - So just in sum, it's really important to know that creative nonfiction is an artful genre as artful as poetry, or fiction. And so ignore the people who wanna try to dismiss it and just know that writing personal narratives really is turning your life into art. I.

Faculti AI can make mistakes