Writers Forum Presents Susan Bono on the Art of the Essay: How to Write Creative Nonfiction

In her Writers Forum workshop last month, Susan Bono discussed the art of the essay, describing it as a "small, subjective look at life." The founding editor of Tiny Lights: A Journal of Personal Narrative started with a great overview of the broader genre of creative nonfiction (aka literary or narrative nonfiction), which also encompasses forms like narrative journalism or the lyric essay.

Lee Gutkind, founding editor of the esteemed online journal, Creative Nonfiction, defines the genre "simply, succinctly, and accurately as 'true stories well told'... The word 'creative' refers to the use of literary craft, the techniques fiction writers, playwrights, and poets employ to present nonfiction—factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a compelling, vivid, dramatic manner." (Excerpted from Gutkind's book YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction—from Memoir to Literary Journalism and Everything in Between.)

Open Mic: Aqus Cafe's Speakeasy Literary Saloon

Photo Credit: Argus Courier

 

This month, in an effort to immerse myself in a post-MFA literary life, I attended the Aqus Cafe Speakeasy Literary Saloon. This quarterly reading, hosted by Ransom Stephens and Susan Bono (of Tiny Lights, which I've blogged about), showcased the extraordinary talents of local authors such as Stefanie Freele (fiction editor for Los Angeles Review, whom I've also blogged about). They always have a drawing for two open mic slots, so attending writers are encouraged to come prepared. I haven't read to an audience for almost two years, so I brought an excerpt from an essay that was recently accepted for publication in the literary journal South Loop Review: Creative Nonfiction and Art (slated for fall, 2013). The whole time that I sat listening, I had the almost certain feeling that my name would be drawn. And it was! As one of the last readers, I was pleased to see the cafe was still full and was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. There's something so exciting about getting one's work out there. Reading aloud brings with it the gratification of an immediate response, but also the increased vulnerability of exposure before one's audience.

"Shasta in Stanzas" accepted by Telling Our Stories Press UltraShort Memoir Project

Her tent was a silhouette, wrapped in the shadow of twilight.

Sunrise on Mt. Shasta (Wikipedia commons)

That's an excerpted line from "Shasta in Stanzas," a recently accepted submission to an UltraShort Memoir anthology put out by Telling Our Stories Press. It "seeks raw, close to the bone writing about meaningful personal experiences" under 300 words. No pay, but I'll receive two print & two e-book copies of IMPACT: An Anthology of Short Memoirs, to be published Feb. 29.

 

According to their call for submissions:

We are seeking literary personal narrative with well crafted writing employing literary techniques such as explicit or implied storyline, conflict, symbolism, theme, interiority, rich imagery and description. Entries will be judged on originality and the use of various structural forms, language and cohesive storytelling... As with any memoir, there must be some uncovering of whatever wisdom was gained.

I wrote the first draft of this piece as a writing exercise in David Vann's MFA workshop last year. After getting constructive feedback from Susan Bono at Tiny Lights and rejection from their flash prose contest, I cut and compressed into the current one-pager. It is amazing how much can be told in such a short space. I believe I achieved what was asked for: a storyline of lost and found, symbolism through descriptive imagery, interiority of character--all through a unique structural form of stanzas.

When it's published I'll post a link...
...in the meantime, it's back to the pen and ink.

Nice Notes of Rejection: Tiny Lights

Recently I got a SASE in the mail from Tiny Lights: A Journal of Personal Narrative. I knew what it was: a rejection slip and return of my submission to a local flash prose contest I'd entered in February. But instead of the disappointment and dread that can accompany such self-addressed envelopes penned in my own handwriting (always a bit odd, as if I'm the one delivering the bad news to myself), I opened this one with eager anticipation.


The reason?

I knew that, according to contest guidelines, one of the judges might offer written comments on my manuscript. Being in an MFA program, I've become accustomed to receiving feedback on my work. The praise always boosters confidence, but hearing from readers about what isn't working helps me see where the work needs to go. Affecting our audience is, after all, a big part of the reason we're writing. 

As the editor, Susan Bono, writes on the Tiny Lights website: "You never know what an editor really thinks about your work." In this case, I did! And it was awfully sweet.

I wasn't a prize winner, a finalist or an honorable mention. I didn't even make the lengthy list of "entries of note." But I did receive the kindest rejection (form) letter possible, along with some great personal feedback from Bono herself: