When is it not Non-Fiction anymore?
So, for a while now I've been thinking about telling the story of my grandmother and her family. They have a really terrific story of growing up in the south in the 30s and 40s. But I'm having trouble thinking about how to do it. I want it to be narrative non-fiction. It's a romantic tale and telling it journalistically would not really work.
But I wonder, how can it be written like a novel but stay within the bounds of non-fiction. I wonder if I'd be better off (and tell a better story) writing it as fiction -- "based on true events".
So where do you think the line is in narrative non-fiction. At what point is it not non-fiction anymore? Also, has anyone else tried to tell someone else's story as a narrative non-fiction? How did you approach it.
I think I might need to read Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil. The writer isn't a character in that book right? It's a lot easier when the writer is a character I think (like Under the Tuscan Sun or something).
So, for a while now I've been thinking about telling the story of my grandmother and her family. They have a really terrific story of growing up in the south in the 30s and 40s. But I'm having trouble thinking about how to do it. I want it to be narrative non-fiction. It's a romantic tale and telling it journalistically would not really work.
But I wonder, how can it be written like a novel but stay within the bounds of non-fiction. I wonder if I'd be better off (and tell a better story) writing it as fiction -- "based on true events".
So where do you think the line is in narrative non-fiction. At what point is it not non-fiction anymore? Also, has anyone else tried to tell someone else's story as a narrative non-fiction? How did you approach it.
I think I might need to read Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil. The writer isn't a character in that book right? It's a lot easier when the writer is a character I think (like Under the Tuscan Sun or something).