Creative Nonfiction · 14 August 2021
I never really thought about it until I saw a Twitter post the other day, but I write creative nonfiction.
Blogging is a strange thing. At least for me. After all, I have written about lots of different subjects, so it is difficult to categorize what my writing is about. I do not just write about writing. I do not just write about family. I do not just write about food or health or writing. (I think I already said that.) I just write about life. Mostly, my life. So my writing does not fit into any nice neat category. Which is not a problem in my mind. Just in the minds of those who need to create categories for authors and their work.
Which is where the person’s Twitter post comes in.
Even though I never really cared that my writing does not fit into some nice, neat category, I was amazed to find out that maybe it does. Creative nonfiction. Well maybe I am crazy, but that is what I write most of the time. At least, that is what I attempt to write. I attempt to be creative. And except for those few times when I have written fiction on my blog, I write nonfiction. So apparently, I write creative nonfiction. At least on my blog.
Realizing that I do have a category for my writing was such a relief. I have been trying to think of what category I fit into for all these years. Wringing my hands and sweating it out thinking that somebody might one day realize that I do not fit into a nice neat category. Okay. That is not the truth. In reality, I thought about what category I might fit into when I started blogging back in aught six. (That is 2006.) Which is not quite true either. In reality, I only thought about categories of writing for a few minutes back in 2007 when I got my website up and running. I wondered if my writing really did fit into a category. Then, when I figured the closest thing to a category I could come up with was ‘life,’ I decided that it did not matter, and went along my merry way. Category? I don’t need no stinking category.
At any rate. I actually do appreciate the thought of actually having a category to put my writing in. At least my blogging. Really. I think it is great that now I can tell people my blog fits into the category of creative nonfiction. Even if some of my friends and faithful readers might say that what I do is not really that creative. Or really even writing. At least it is nonfiction. For the most part.
By the way. I wonder if hyperbole is still nonfiction. Think about it. If you exaggerate something to the point of being hyperbole, is it still nonfiction? I do not know. I suppose that is a question for the language police. And as I have already said in a previous post, I am glad I am not part of that force.
Well, I hope that clears things up. Especially for those readers who wondered what type of writing I do anyway. Just remember, MediocreMan is not merely striving to become mediocre, he is trying to write creative nonfiction.
Now, we can all rest easy knowing that I do have a writing category. And I have a Twitter post from somebody to thank for that clarification.
© 2021 Michael T. Miyoshi
| Share on facebook | Tweet |
|
Comment
Commenting is closed for this article.
| Olympic Writing | Successful Writer |