Creative nonfiction is writing that applies fiction techniques to non-fiction writing. Traditional non-fiction was to inform, not entertain. Creative nonfiction attempts to entertain as well as inform in an attempt to help the reader learn more and understand better. Creative non-fiction is a genre that requires the skill of the storyteller and the research ability of the reporter. Dramatize the prose so it excites the reader and creates a word-picture in the reader's mind.

Creative nonfiction is also called personal journalism, literary journalism, dramatic nonfiction, the new journalism, the new nonfiction, the nonfiction novel, or the literature of fact. These are some famous authors of creative nonfiction: Tom Wolfe, Truman Capote, Jimmy Breslin, Gay Talese, Gloria Steinem, Hunter Thompson, Norman Mailer.

Creative Nonfiction Books

• In Cold Blood--Capote (generally considered to be the forerunner of the nonfiction novel)
• Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil
• Angela's Ashes

Ways to apply nonfiction techniques to your fiction:

• Open your article with a descriptive story--an attempt to arrest the reader
• Full use of dialogue between actual people, reporting on them as if they were characters in a novel
• Recording of details such as gestures, habits and style of clothing
• Gain authority through realistic detail--about a building or a person or the scene
• Reveal character through dialogue and actions.
• Decide what viewpoint best entertains and informs the reader: first person or third person.
• Use anecdotes in your articles
• Interview and research several or dozens of subjects (for example, taxi drivers in New York City). Compress or fictionalize all of them into one character. Tell a story about a typical New York cabbie from information gained from your research. If a New York taxi driver says "That's the way it is," you have succeeded. Usually it's acknowledged that the story is fiction.