When I think of non-fiction writing, I have always thought of personal stories. Writing that the author needs to get out and into the world. But it had never occurred to me until recently that this type of writing doesn’t necessarily have to be done by the perspective of the writer. There are many sides to non-fictional writing, and ways to show them. For example, if I want to tell a story about my alcoholic father, I can chose to write it from my first person perspective; “I could smell the fresh shot of Jack Daniels on his breath the second he walked in the door”, or second person perspective; “you hear the stumbling of your father walking in at 2:00am”, or even third person; “The smell of alcohol was tormenting. The anticipation grew immensely waiting for the tormentor to arrive”. Each perspective provides it’s own insight for the reader. Many more examples of perspective are given here showing how nonfiction can be just as creative in providing different perspectives into the stories we tell. Our stories through nonfiction writing do not have to be, and are not meant to be our own once they are told. Different perspectives and points of view can help share the stories with the readers in more inclusive ways.
He said, She said
Leave a reply