Creative Nonfiction-The most misunderstood and important genre

Geri Spieler
4 min readJan 29, 2022

You’ll be surprised at the number of New York Time’s bestsellers are creative nonfiction authors

Photo art from iStock for Getty Images

What Is Creative Nonfiction?

Simply put: Creative nonfiction is true stories, well told.

“If novels are fiction and poems are, well, poetry, then what are memoirs? What about essays, narrative journalism, and so many other kinds of true stories that give us new ways to consider the world around us and our place in it? From books to magazine articles to podcasts, creative nonfiction surrounds us.”

I could not have said this better.

The terms “creative” and “nonfiction” illustrate the form of writing. When we think of the word, “creative” we think of the craft and literary style. The actual technique that writers use to tell stories about real people and events. That is the style part.

Then, the nonfiction part is to communicate a bit of the real world. The facts of a personal experience, a scientific discovery, a history, a place, a person written in a way that will come off the page, inform and change readers, and make an impact.

When I decided to write a book about a real person and real events, I wanted it to read like a novel.

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Geri Spieler
Geri Spieler

Written by Geri Spieler

Award-winning writer, master researcher, journalist, former Gartner analyst, non-fiction author. Reach me at gspieler@gmail.com

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