{"id":358,"date":"2025-11-13T17:58:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T17:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/?page_id=358"},"modified":"2025-11-13T19:21:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T19:21:59","slug":"essay-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/non-fiction\/essay-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Essay #1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anna Starkey<\/span><\/p>\n

Tips for writing Creative Non-Fiction:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Tell a story<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Tell the truth<\/span><\/p>\n

Write. Write. Write. I am writing Creative Non-Fiction, a literary tool presented as truth, but an artist cannot do such a thing. I cannot write honestly just as I cannot write a lie. Put it into words and that line between truth and fiction becomes blurred. Even a fictional story contains truth. When aliens attack a planet that is already populated by vampires and werewolves, the main character falls in love and becomes the first immortal queen of Mars. Impossible in this reality, of course, but when the surprisingly hot alien kisses our protagonist\u2019s forehead, that is truth. When she admires his features in the moon\u2019s subtle hum of light, that is truth. And to tell the truth, I must know it. But what is there to know? This is my truth. This is your truth. They are both the truth, but only one can be truth.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prompts for writing Creative Non-Fiction:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Describe a memory in vivid detail.<\/span><\/p>\n

Okay. Sounds easy enough. I have been alive for almost 22 and a half years. 8,210 days. 197,040 hours. Plenty of memories to choose from. But which one? The story is already written. The characters are established. This is so easy. Let me pick a memory. It should be something life changing. Something made of me. Something no one else knows. Unfortunately, I have a big mouth and hate when silence uses up all the oxygen in the room and I am left sitting next to someone bouncing my leg and biting my fingernails, struggling to breathe. Besides, if I have never told anyone about it, why would I share it now? Maybe it can be a story I have already told. It\u2019s not like I have written it before. And<\/span><\/p>\n

it\u2019s not like I won\u2019t tell it again. Just think. I guess I can write about my first day in rehab. But, I don\u2019t know, is it really appropriate for a class discussion board? Is that what writing is, exploiting my past for three credit hours? Even if I were to, my memory of that day does not provide sufficient details to \u2018show, not tell\u2019 a cohesive story which is as true as it is compelling. I do not remember the color of the walls in the lobby or how the light trickled in through the windows. I am not even sure if there were windows. Maybe it is just me. Maybe a true author writes without a pen. Assessing the chair they sit in, memorizing the face of the receptionist and the tone of her voice. Sure, I can fill in the details. I think there was a lamp in the corner of the room, so the lighting must have been soft with a yellow tone. Except how am I to know if this is the truth? There are lamps in many rooms. I may be remembering a lamp in the room because it makes sense for a lamp to be there. When I think about it again, I realize there were big windows in the front of the building. So there must not have been a lamp, then, because sunlight must have filled the room. But, I guess, it could have been there as a symbolic piece of decor to make a lonely room feel more like home. Is there a truth to tell of a moment stored only in my mind? These authors must be lying, then, because it cannot be me. That is, unless everyone was right and the years of smoking weed and hours spent cradling blue light and a significant protein deficiency have all melted my brain into a useless slug that is only able to produce a few minute details from the past.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nAnna Starkey Tips for writing Creative Non-Fiction: 1. Tell a story 2. Tell the truth Write. Write. Write. I am…\n<\/div>\n
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