At one point or another, you will open WC Online and find that a writer wants your advice on making an essay more “personal.” Maybe a writer needs feedback on a memoir-in-progress just before workshop (been there, done that). You might already have some experience with fiction-based prose or poetry. After all, it’s easier to provide feedback on invented scenarios or people. No hard feelings, right?
However, when the writing tethers to reality—that abstruse and ineffable realm known as creative nonfiction—it’s common to feel a prickle of hesitation. How does a tutor sensitively approach work based on real life experiences and occurrences? What conventions should a tutor use to talk about creative nonfiction? Most importantly, how does a tutor provide constructive feedback on writing so subjective yet so personal?
As a creative nonfiction writer and frequent workshop participant, I will share a few of my favorite strategies to make your next appointment productive, approachable, and fun!
REFRAIN FROM THE PERSONAL:
I know what you’re thinking. How does one refrain being personal about a personal piece? In creative nonfiction (especially personal essays and memoir), the author is a character in their own story. The writer is situating themselves in the context of real events, real settings, and real experiences. Thus, you are working with a paper-portrayal of the author. Refer to the author as “the speaker” or “the narrator” to avoid accidental judgements or unwarranted opinions about the actual author:
“I wasn’t sure what you meant by X.” vs. “I wasn’t sure what the narrator meant by X.”
“Why did you mention X?” vs. “Why might have the speaker mentioned X in this scene?”
Remember, it’s all about how the writer’s life is being told and represented, not what kind of life you’re reading about. Keep your feedback related to the craft rather than the content.
NOTE WHAT’S WORKING:
Remember that praise is not flattery (even though flattery feels good); it’s a critical means of assessing a writer’s strengths and accomplishments. Start the conversation by noting what the writer was able to accomplish with the draft and why it works. Put those glitter pens to use and highlight passages or lines that strike you. How might the writer incorporate more of those successful elements in the next draft?
“This sentence is good!” vs. “I love how the sensory details in this sentence paint a clear picture of the house!”
As a peer tutor, be mindful that it takes courage for a writer share a part of themselves or their story. All writing is a vulnerable act, but there is something especially revealing about nonfiction. Honor your writer’s tenacity and bravery because that is also a worthy milestone.
FOCUS ON OPPORTUNITIES:
My favorite agenda item for Written Feedback appointments is opportunities. You can apply it to any kind of writing, but it’s especially useful in creative nonfiction. For example, you might notice a theme emerging in the writer’s personal essay that needs further development. Rather than “critiquing” their choice, a more effective feedback approach would be to offer another direction for the narrative based on your observations as a reader.
“There might be an opportunity to have the speaker reflect on the theme of adolescence by…”
“I noticed that the narrator mentions their childhood throughout the essay. One opportunity for the essay could be to incorporate scenes of important childhood memories.”
“What if the speaker opened the narrative with a memory from middle school?”
“There’s potential to showcase the narrator at different stages of youth.”
It may be that a writer has no intention of developing the theme of “adolescence,” and that’s totally fine! Ultimately, the writer always has the final say. When you frame your suggestions as “opportunities,” you are acknowledging the composition’s subjectivity while reinforcing the writer’s creative agency. A double-win!
Here are other agenda items you can use to guide a creative nonfiction appointment:
Scene vs. Summary, Themes, Character, Form, Imagery, Turns-of-phrase, Dialogue, Time, Exposition, Conflict, Context, and Motivations.
START WITH AN OBSESSION:
Perhaps the writer has no clue where to begin. The document is blank. A deadline is approaching. They’re all out of ideas. You, my fellow tutor, are tasked to pull them out of their artistic funk—and fast. One drafting technique that may help is to have your writer list things they are obsessed about. What better way to strike inspiration than to focus on a passion? Obsessions can be inquiries, questions, recurring thoughts, objects, inventions, reflections, ruminations, meditations, observations, and the most peculiar sensations. In synchronized appointments, allow your writer five minutes to jot down anything that comes to mind. Randomness is encouraged.
- The smell of home-brewed coffee in the kitchen
- Chime of church bells on Sunday mornings
- My postcard collection
- Why I loathe plastic flowers
- A Polaroid of my great-grandmother
- Folktronica music
- Dad’s twenty-year-old leather wallet
- Jane Austen novels
Notice how many of the listed examples are hyper-specific and small. Some of these “obsessions” may incite specific memories for your writer. The goal is to take an obsession and transform it into a moment or scene. A memoir about a spiritual journey could begin with the sound of church bells ringing throughout the writer’s small town. A personal essay about a writer’s love for gardening could open with a memory of receiving plastic flowers after a first date. Have your writer recreate that atmosphere and take you into a specific place and time. Hopefully, the words will write themselves.
ASKING (SOCIAL) QUESTIONS IS KEY:
Subjective art forms are prone to an array of questions. Embrace it! Writing workshops flourish with specific questions about craft. Your writer may not have an answer to all your questions right away, but at the very least, they can use your queries as a way to think about their intentions moving forward.
Moreover, a lot of creative nonfiction is socially aware. You get a sense of the speaker’s identity, the surrounding world, and the speaker’s relationship to the world. As a result, you may ask questions that relate to those topics. Some common social questions for creative nonfiction might involve…
Character and Conflict:
- What more do we need to know about the character (history, background, appearance, values, motivations)? Are they humanized?
- Who else is involved and how are they related to the speaker? To the narrative?
- How does the character change or evolve over time (especially the speaker)?
- Does the character experience an internal or external conflict? How are they grappling with their circumstances and other competing ideas?
- When characters exchange dialogue, are they offering multiple points-of-view?
- In terms of development, which characters flat or rounded? Static or dynamic?
- What does the character want most? What’s preventing them from obtaining it?
Time and Setting:
- When and where does narrative takes place?
- What are the norms or cultural conventions of this particular setting? Does the speaker conform or challenge them in any way?
- If there are jumps in time or place, are those transitions made clear? Is the sequence working?
- Are the events told in past, present, or future tense? Is the tense consistent?
- What’s going on in the world at this time? How does that affect the speaker and their surroundings?
Form and Structure:
- What is the ratio between summary and scene? In other words, how much of the story is told versus shown? When is it beneficial to include imagery and sensory descriptions?
- How much time does the narrator spend reflecting rather than observing?
- When does a “shift” occur for the speaker? Do they ever reach a point where they have to make a choice?
- How is the conflict or tension resolved? Can it be resolved?
- Does the text contain recurring objects or themes? How well do they braid together?
My go-to questions for creative nonfiction explore the writer’s purpose:
- What is prompting the narrator to tell the story now—at this point in time—as opposed to another time in their life?
- What question does your writing attempt to answer or explore? Which events will help you address the question?
- How did you construct the piece? What did the process look like?
- What does the speaker hope to discover about themselves?
- Are there any places where you, as a writer, feel that you’re taking a risk?
- Is this piece part of a larger work/collection, or is it self-contained (a short story)?
- In your eyes, what is this piece essentially about? What is your vision?
Creative nonfiction does not expect concrete answers or solutions to resolve conflict or tension, especially in relation to social issues. It’s simply a way of probing, exploring, and understanding the speaker and their relationship to the world—a lifelong process that often requires re-visitation. So long as the work can articulate a new way of knowing or understanding (whether that be in the form of an observation, reflection, or a change in attitude), then the work will feel “complete.”
Happy Writing!