I am driven to write nonfiction because I have stories to tell, and in those tellings I am figuring my life out. I am also deeply afraid of personal nonfiction, because I fear I will never actually be able to share it outside of a classroom.
Creative nonfiction is defined by what it isn’t: not fiction. But I have learned to define fiction by what it isn’t: not truth. I know, of course, that there are always truths within fiction, but for me they find a home within nonfiction. Truth versus nontruth. When I write, I am either choosing to write about myself and my experiences, or I am actively choosing to delay these truths. My own, personal truths.