Elements of Nonfiction


What is Nonfiction?

Writing that is expository and/or descriptive, having to do with ideas, issues, actual events, and/or real people.

However, creative nonfiction borrows elements from fiction, poetry, and drama: plot structure of a true story, dialogue (re-created), “character development” of real people, scenes, summary, and description.

Types of Nonfiction:

Narrative Nonfiction:

Diary: a more intimate, personal, and private chronology of events that is presented sequentially – mostly chronicles personal feelings.

Journal: tends to be a more public forum, the writer being more concerned with ideas and the world at large.

Literary Journal: direct responses to other texts, based on feelings, emotions, imitation, and/or analyses. Often used by writers for getting ideas of their own.

Letter: informal or formal message written directly to a family member, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger. Letters of famous people are often published in collections.

Epistle: a more formal version of the letter, often intended for public dissemination (publication and/or public speech). As such, the epistle usually addresses public issues, such as religion and politics.

Biography: a chronology of a famous or distinguished person’s life, written by a biographer other than the person whose life is being chronicled. Typically, a biography attempts to cover the person’s entire life.

Literary Biography: a specialized type of biography in which a writer’s life story is told from the perspective of his or her body of literary works.

Autobiography: a writer’s (usually a famous or noted person), version of his or her own life. Typically, the writer attempts to cover his or her entire life thus far.

Memoir: a writer’s (not necessarily a famous or noted person) attempt to emphasize events and/or people he or she has experienced and/or known from his/her own perspective. A memoir does not usually cover an entire life, but, rather, emphasizes key events and people. Memoirs tend to resemble fiction, and, in fact, some memoir writers have been accused of stretching the truth, for example, James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces

Newspaper/news website story: an objective account of a fast-breaking event, incorporating the who, what, when, where, why, and how paradigm. While some expository elements may be found in straight newspaper writing, the journalist’s main purpose is to get the story disseminated fast and on deadline. Therefore, this type of writing tends to be bare bones – just the facts – with as much as possible information in the lede (or lead) and the following two or three paragraphs. Uses the inverted pyramid style, with the most important information at the beginning. Often, in print journalism, the bottom of the story is lopped off because of space concerns (not such a problem in digital versions).

Rhetorical Nonfiction: presents facts and ideas in such a way to persuade a reader of a viewpoint.

Journalistic/editorial prose: reportage that goes beyond the simple reporting of events; thus, the writer takes and supports a position and then writes a piece for publication. Some in-depth stories/editorials incorporate expository elements as well.

Descriptive prose: writing that is concerned with the physical world: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Also known as “sensory” writing.

Expository prose: writing that explains, offers information, and/or defends a viewpoint. Research is often involved. Often the line dividing the following can be fuzzy:

Issue: writing that defends/supports a viewpoint on a controversial issue.

Informative: writing that is intended to offer information on a subject – usually noncontroversial – without making major judgments on an issue.

Process: writing that explains how a something works (informative process) or how to do something (directive process)

Essay: a term for a piece of nonfiction prose that has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion – a complete work.

Informal: an essay that is more personal, tentative, or subjective – not the “last word” on a topic. Language tends to be informal/casual. Creative nonfiction falls into this category.

Formal: an essay that is serious in tone/register, objective, and formally structured. Extensive research of issues is usually involved.

However, the dividing line between narrative and rhetorical nonfiction can often be fuzzy.

Parts of the Formal Essay (Traditional Format):

Introduction:

The beginning of the essay that introduces the topic and attracts the reader’s attention by offering an anecdote, story, or scenario.

Thesis:

The major claim (position of the writer) or what the essay plans to cover.

Explicit Thesis:

The major claim or topic of essay that is stated directly in a clear and concise sentence.

Implicit Thesis:

The major claim or topic of essay that is implied throughout the essay–not directly stated.

Three Paragraph Body:

The “meat” of the essay, the evidence to support the thesis, which is offered to the reader, such as research, statistics, interviews, and solid reasoning.

Counterargument paragraph(s):

In an issue/persuasive essay, recognition, refutation, and/or accommodation of opposing viewpoints. Usually not needed for the informative essay.

Conclusion:

The ending that wraps up the essay by restating the thesis in different words and sometimes offering an extra “nugget” for the reader for further thinking. 

I prefer to view to the formal/traditional essay format as “training wheels for writers,” although creative nonfiction writers tend to ditch this format quickly.

Comments

For Literary Agents...

Jennifer's Cloud

20th Century Poetry 21st Century Fiction 21st Century Poetry A Grave Digger in Search of a Body A Long Bio A Short Bio A Slice of Life Abe Lemons About Jennifer About Jennifer's Sites About My Blogs About My Sites Abrahami Acrostic Advance Obituaries Advance Obituary Advanced Obituaries Advanced Obituary Advice Aging Aging Boomers Aging Issues Airline Safety Al Boliska Albert Einstein Allegory Alternate Universe American Poetry Angela's Ashes Anger Anne Bernays Antagonist Apollo 11 Apollo 8 Are You EVER Going to be Thin? (and other stories) Articles Articles and Resources Astronauts Aunt Sexy Babies Baby Boomers Backward Story Banner Credit Baseball Bat Boy the Musical Beginning Bio Blogs Cal Ripken Jr. Cal Ripken's last game Casinos Catholic Church Character List Characterization ChatGPT Cherokee Iowa Cherokee Mental Institute Child Child's Letter Childhood Childhood Memory Children Christmas Story Climax College Professors Conflict Contact Contact Jen Contact Jennifer Controversy Copyright Counter Culture Creation Creative Writing Creativity Curriculum Vitae CV CV: Education CV: Employment CV: Honors and Awards CV: Offices and Memberships CV: Professional Activities CV: PUblications Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje D.H. Lawrence Dear Aunt Sexy Death Death and Dying Denzel Washington Description Details Dialogue Divorce Drama Drama: The Queen Bee (A Playlet) Dramady Dream Dreams Dying Dylan Thomas Dynamic Characters Dysfunction Dystopia Dystopian nonfiction Dystopian Poetry Earth Earthrise Eleanor Roosevelt Elements Elements of Fiction Elements of Fiction: Character List Elements of Fiction: Characterization Elements of Fiction: Other Elements Elements of Fiction: Point of View Elements of Fiction: Structure Elements of Nonfiction Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson Offers Lovelorn Advice... Epiphany Escape Essay Essay Poem Essay Review Essay: A Cautionary Tale (At 18 Did I REALLY Say That?) Essay: Gate Crashers Essay: Running Away Essay: Sixteen Horny Women in Search of a Poet Essay: The Concert (A Dream) Essays Ethics Eulogy Excerpt Excerpts Excerpts – Memoir Madness: Driven to Involuntary Commitment Falling Action Family Family Drama Family Relationships Family Reunion Fantasy Fathers Feminist Poetry Ferry 'Cross the Mersey Fiction Fiction Review Fiction: "Are You EVER Going to be Thin?" Fiction: *Time Nymph* Fiction: + J.M.J + Fiction: A Reporter Three Orioles and an Astronaut’s Family (The Grand Experiment) Fiction: Peer or Self Review of a Short Story Fiction: Two ChatGPT Stories Fire First Person Flash Fiction Flash Non-fiction Flash Nonfiction Fold Me Up Folding For Literary Agents... Forgotten Rooms Formal Essay Frank McCourt Free Verse Fulbright Scholar Gate Crashers gender General Guidelines for Peer Reviewing Creative Works Gerry and the Pacemakers Ghosts gunas haiku Hey Hey little trollie Hidden Rooms Hippies Homelessness Horny Women Horny Women at the Sewing Factory Humor I Came I Saw I Kicked A$$ – and I Didn’t Die on December 5 1984 I Died on December 5 1984... I Have COPD Goddammit... In Waiting Informal Essay Interview Interviews Involuntary Commitment Iowa Ironclad Rules Ironclad Rules for Creative Writing Jack Kerouac Jazz (Haiku) Jeff Jeffer Jeffer.co Jeffer.me Jennifer Jennifer Semple Jennifer Semple Siegel Jennifer Writing Jennifer's Advanced Obituary Jennifer's Blogs Jennifer's Books Jennifer's CV Jennifer's Fiction Jennifer's Long Bio Jennifer's Nonfiction Jennifer’s Other Writing Websites Jennifer's Poetry Jennifer's Short Bio Jennifer's Sites Jennifer's Story Jennifer's Writing JenniferRIP Jerry Siegel Journal Journaling Journaling or Memoiring: Private Vs. Public Writing Joy Ufema Lady Chatterley’s Lover Larry Rubin Letter Letters Life Changes Long Short Story Love Lovelorn Advice Made-up Words Margaret Atwood marriage Mary Riley Mass Shootings Massacres Meet Your Pilot Memoir Memoir Madness Memoir Madness (Excerpts) Memoir Madness: Caged (Prologue) Memoir Madness: Driven to Involuntary Commitment Memoir Review Memoir Traps Memoirist Memoirs Mental Institutions Messages Monologue Mothers Music My Fiction My Long Bio My Name is (Also) Jeffer My Short Bio Name Names Narrative Nonfiction NASA nature Nature Poetry Non-fiction Non-fiction Review Nonfiction Nonfiction: Self or Peer Review of a Personal Essay or Memoir North Macedonia Not-so-great Poetry Nursing Homes Nymph**Time Obit Obituaries Obituary Objective Point of View Objective POV Objective Viewpoint Obsessions Ocean Waves October 6 2001 On My Husband's Retirement Oral Histories Oral History Orioles Over 50 Years Ago: Apollo 11 – First Men on the Moon. Where were You? Pamela Painter Peer Review Pems Personal Essay Philosophy Photo Credit – NASA Play Plays Plot Poem Poems Poetry Poetry in Motion Poetry review Poetry: “Street People (1969) Poetry: How Not to Send Out a Poem Poetry: On Resubmitting Her Creation Poetry: Self or Peer Review of a Poem Poetry: Thy Daily Dread Point of View POV Pregnancy Primary Characters Privacy Privacy and Copyright Notice Private Writing Prologue Protagonist Psychedelic Bingo Psychodrama Public Writing Puns Quick Links rajas Reality Play Reality T.V. Religion Resolution/Dénouement Resources Resources: Articles and Elements of... Résumé Retirement Review Rhetorical Nonfiction Rising action Rules Running Away Satire sattva Scene Science Fiction Scope Second Person Secondary Characters Secret Rooms Self Review Senior Citizens Sestina Sestinas Setting Sexuality Short Bio Short Fiction Short short story Short Stories Short Story Short Story Collection Short Story Review Show Simple Rules Sites Skopje Snark Sons Spoof Spoofs Sports Starlings Static Characters Stories Story Structure Story-poem Street People (1969) Summary Symbolism Table of Contents Table of Contents: CV tamas Tell All the Truth Telling Tense The Deep Room The Long Bio The Pacemaker The Politics of Memoir The Politics of Memoir and the Making of Memoir Madness The Room Where I Never Go The Short Bio The Trash Can of L.A.: A Reality Play Thematic Sites Theme Themes Third Person Third Person Limited Third Person Omniscient Third Person Singular Three Basic Rules Thy Daily Dread Time Tone Trollie Trolls TSA Tupac Shakur Viewpoint Webpages Websites Weight Weight Issues What If? Why I Write Why You Dear Writer Should Write Your Own Obituary Wikipedia Women Writer Writers Writing Writing Exercise: The Objective Point of View Writing Exercises Writing Purpose Writing the Memoir Yoga Principles York College of Pennsylvania York Pennsylvania YT ONG Zomja
Show more

Privacy and Copyright Notice

Photo Credit – NASA


The banner on this site has been created from one of the most iconic photos in modern history: Earthrise as viewed from the Moon. More

Copyright Notice

All creative works posted here are © by Jennifer Semple Siegel, 1969 - present, and may not be reprinted or reposted without permission of the author. All creative works posted on this website are by Jennifer Semple Siegel, unless otherwise specified. Unattributed artwork has been AI generated, and some have been remixed.