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Creative Non-Fiction: The Novelist-Reporter (10 weeks)
Literary journalism. Literary nonfiction. Narrative journalism. Narrative nonfiction. It goes by many names. The names we're interested in, though, are Susan Orlean, John McPhee, Gay Talese, Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion and Truman Capote. These are the names of writers who time and again marry the art of the novelist with the craft of the reporter. In The Literature of Reality, co-editors Gay Talese (a long-time master of the tradition and one of the fathers of "new journalism"), and Barbara Lounsberry write, "Literary nonfiction is certainly not fiction - although some works read like novels. Artful nonfiction is more than fiction, offering the satisfying truths of fact and the 'universal truths' of art." If you have a yen to write artful nonfiction like Talese and the staff at The New Yorker, then this class is for you.
We'll research, interview, and immerse ourselves in a topic - that's the reporting part - then craft complication and resolution statements, plot action events, identify points of insight - that's the fiction influence - and, finally, we'll write a rough draft utilizing scenic construction, dialogue, characters and action - more fictional constructs. Then, we'll revise it. (After all, the writing doesn't really start until the first draft is done.) By following this process, students should each end up with at least one polished story - that will be workshopped - by the end of the course.
Weekly lessons will be provided. There will be weekly writing assignments, and students will be asked to post these for feedback from fellow students, as well as from me. There will also be suggested reading assignments each week, because there is no better way to learn to write than from others who do it well.
Class Outline:
Week 1: Stalking the Story: The topic of literary journalism is often focused on everyday events and people. This week, we'll investigate ways to uncover story ideas, and we'll discuss ways to answer the question, "What's the real story here?"
Assignment: Start a Progress Log (Prog Log) by listing 3 to 5 story ideas. For each, write complication-resolution statements.
Week 2: Research and Reporting. In The Art of Fact, Kevin Kerrane writes, "In every case, the narrative point of view is possible only because of the writer's complete immersion in the world of the story." This week, we'll focus on the element that distinguishes literary journalism from other types of nonfiction, most especially the memoir. This may include interviewing. This may include shadowing your main character. This may include participating in or recreating an experience. This may include internet and library research.
Assignment: Do the research, primary and secondary. Keep writing, daily, in the Prog Log.
Week 3: Structure and Form: Now that the research is underway, it's time to think about form. That is whether your story will take the shape of a profile piece; first-person narrative; travel, science or nature story; social commentary; or process narrative. It's also time to re-evaluate the complication-resolution statements and flesh out an outline with action events and points of insight.
Assignment: Keep researching. Write outline. Write about the research and outlining process in the Prog Log.
Week 4: Scene & Exposition: Rather than straight reportage (telling) - who, what, where, when, why - literary journalism takes the reader into the scene (showing) - borrowing from fictional concepts like dialogue, setting, action and character to recreate an experience. Unlike fiction, however, literary journalists flavor their writing with facts, creating a blend of scene and exposition.
Assignment: Write three different scenes from your story. Ideally, they should be the key action events from your outline. No need to worry about the order of the scenes here or transitioning from one to another. We'll figure that out later. Keep researching. Keep processing in the Prog Log.
Week 5: Character and characterization: In Writing for Story, Jon Franklin writes, "Character is the most important element of the story, and the one on which all else depends." This week, we'll examine character and characterization.
Assignment: Answer these questions (from Franklin's book) in your Prog Log: How and why does your character view your story's complication? How does your character respond to the complication and why? How do the events of the story change your character? Does the character realize this? Does s/he have any ah-ha moments or points of insight? And if so, when? Keep researching, if need be. Keep processing in your Prog Log.
Week 6: Voice and Point of View: Literary journalism relies on a strong voice or authorial presence. Unlike its cousin memoir, it can easily be written in third person, and unlike its other cousin journalism, the inclusion of the author's voice is highly important. Literary journalism is not straight reportage or straight documentary. This week, we'll discuss, "How much me?" Whether the story warrants first person or third person narration.
Assignment: Rewrite the three scenes from week 4 in the opposite voice. That is, if you wrote them in first person, write them in third. And vice versa. Keep researching, if need be. Keep processing in Prog Log.
Week 7: Beginnings: The beginning of any story should introduce the complication. This will add tension and suspense to your story. It may also foreshadow.
Assignment: Write 2 to 3 possible beginnings to your story. Introduce your character, set up the situation and put him face-to-face with the complication. Continue with research, if need be, and Prog Log.
Week 8: Detail and Description: Another hallmark of literary journalism is detail and description. Journalist Roy Peter Clark reminds his reporters to ask the dog's name. If there's a dog, a cat, a sister, a husband or a friend involved in the story, get their name. Capture the physical description. Capture mannerisms. Capture the environment. Go back to your research and excavate some more facts. Do the gardenias bloom in the spring there? What was going on elsewhere in the world at the same time? Was there a war? A famine? A real estate boom?
Assignment: Go back to your scenes and sprinkle your writing with detail and description. Keep processing in Prog Log.
Week 9: Making Meaning: Another point of difference between straight journalism and memoir and literary journalism is that the story in the latter is more than just what's on the page. In the introduction to the John McPhee Reader, William L. Howarth writes, 'His [McPhee's] task is to burnish objects until they become reflectors of character and theme." One way to achieve this is through simile and metaphor.
Assignment: Go back to your scenes and consider adding tropes. Keep processing in Prog Log.
Week 10: Draft and Revision and Factchecking: This week, we'll finally put all the pieces together to form a story with a beginning, middle and end - and then make sure we got the facts right.
Assignment: Write it. Post it. Prog it.
Kim Steutermann Rogers is a journalist, travel writer, memoirist and editor of kauaibackstory.com, an online literary salon and journal for rigorous writing with a view about the island of Kauai where Kim lives. She has written for Weight Watchers, Healthy Living, Fitness, Backpacker, Sports Afield, Golf for Women, Running Times, Women's Adventure, Islands, Hawaii, and Hawaiian Airlines' Hana Hou magazines and Fodor's Travel Publications. She teaches private writing classes and workshops and has edited numerous memoirs and works of creative nonfiction. She is currently writing a memoir about building a home and living in Hawaii and a travelogue following in the footsteps of Mark Twain when he tramped around Hawaii in 1866.
Kim holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri.
For more information, visit her website at www.kimsrogers.com.
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