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| What is Creative Nonfiction? |
| Creative nonfiction is a way of telling a true story - in first person since it's your story - and what happened without unnecessary detail or worrying about forgotten details. If you can't remember exactly what your lover was wearing the first time you saw her then it's probably not important. Put her in clothes she wears now or don't even mention her clothing unless it was her crazy attire that first caught your eye and which you would probably still remember today. If you can't recall if it was raining, snowing or sunny then put in what you think it was unless you met because you offered him a ride when you saw he was drenched to the bone, again you would probably remember if this is the case. On that note, if you can remember every tiny detail about that day right down to what you had for breakfast it's probably not all needed in the retelling of events except in cases where something is a cause or product of your fateful meeting. |
| What did you have for breakfast? Necessary. Say you're deathly allergic to onions and you go out for breakfast. You order bacon and eggs making sure there will be no onions in your meal, but you don't think to ask if onions will be fried or have been fried in the same pan about to be used for your food. As luck would have it they're fried together and what could be your last meal arrives. The first bite is down and uh oh! An ambulance screeches into the parking lot and you're loaded in on a gurney. Your throat is closing up fast making it hard to breath and your lungs scream for air. At the hospital you're barely aware of all the doctors and nurses surrounding you but you can feel someone squeezing your hand as the doctor cuts a hole in your throat for a breathing tube. Your lungs fill with air and just briefly your vision clears enough for you to see the nurse who is holding your handing, she's smiling at you. You hear the doctor talking as if from through a tube. You're going to be alright and just as you begin to pass out the nurse's smile reflects in your mind and you tell yourself she's going to be the one you spend the rest of your life with. You know this is true when you wake up to find her still holding your hand and smiling that cute smile. What did you have for breakfast? Not necessary. The day started out like any other day. Your bacon and eggs fry up on your stove as you squeeze out a glass of orange juice, fresh is all you'll drink. After you mosey into the bathroom to brush your teeth and change you go for a walk. You go shopping, buy a cd and some more bacon and eggs for tomorrow. Then on your way home you pass this very cute butch who looks at you a bit oddly when you smile, but her look softens and she ends up turning around and walking you home... Now unless she looks at you oddly because you actually forgot to brush your teeth and breakfast is still in your teeth, then it doesn't need to be added. In fact, most of the details don't except walking home laden with grocery bags when you cross paths with a really cute butch... |
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