Blog # 2: The Power in Creative Nonfiction

Bret Lott writes in "Toward a Definition of Creative Nonfiction" that "creative nonfiction is, in one form or another, for better and worse, in triumph and failure, the attempt to keep from passing altogether away the lives we have lived."
When it is written down, we can truly see our work as a powerful gift, one that shows truth and experience, meaning and beauty. Through his writing, we are able to understand many different definitions of creative nonfiction and there isn't just one type of creative nonfiction. Lott explains that there are memoirs, biographies, journals, and obituaries. So, with each work, I strongly feel that creative nonfiction is a gathering of many truths with different purposes- a beautiful exploration inside a life that may not be fully known until it is written down.

Kincaid's writing that started out with a photograph of herself wearing the yellow, cotton, poplin dress her mother made. This picture was a memory and from this memory came a truth- a truth of her life and what she experienced. She didn't even realize many things as a child because she was 2-years-old but as a 43-year-old woman she understood. Through Kincaid's writing, she recalled her life and restored it. Sometimes when you go through hardships in life or experiences, it takes time to understand the life we lived unless we explore it. Lott mentions that "what creative nonfiction is will reveal itself to you only at the back end of things, once you have written it." It is important to gather together your memories, what you know, painful or happy and just write. Kincaid did this in her writing and she will always have this memory stored. But it will always stand out a part from many other writings. It is the powerful truth in creative nonfiction that makes our writing known and loved and no one can re-create it and take that away from us.