![]() ![]() This doesn’t mean you can’t let loose, it just means you have to phrase certain things as opinions. No matter how strong your feelings, it is vital not to attribute anything which is not hard fact to an actual person. We revere the written word, and so assume both that writers are at least attempting to be objective and that their accounts are therefore relatively trustworthy. Remember that a written account is not perceived by a readership as ‘your’ account, but as a definitive account. Your second ethical duty is to the characters of your story. ![]() If this is not an option there is the more difficult method of styling fictional elements differently, to make them recognizable, or acknowledging where you have engaged in invention. The most common work-around is to present the story as broadly fictional, perhaps having some obviously fictional events at the beginning to guide expectations, so that the audience is more predisposed to satisfied doubt than problematic belief. Though it needs to be clear which parts of your story are fiction and which are fact, this is almost always done by tone. Lee then derives humor from the idea that this is not the case. Here there is no expectation that Lee will give an accurate date, and so when he does proffer a date it can be reasonably expected that he may be using creative license. – Stewart Lee, How I Escaped My Certain Fate But at the end of June, the High Court threw the case out on the grounds that it isn’t 1508.īut… It’s… Hey, and before you all write in, I know that the first blasphemy prosecution was 1628, right, but there’s something rhythmically pleasing about 1508. And me and the composer were going to be taken to court and charged with blasphemy. The BBC executives that commissioned it had to go into hiding, with police protection. And, um, we got accused of being blasphemous… We got 65,000 complaints when it went on television. I worked on this opera about Jerry Springer. Lee frequently plays with his audience’s perception of how ‘real’ his narratives are, having characters refer to their own fictionality and highlighting moments of creative license. If they come away feeling something is true, but knowing logically that it may not be, then you’ve done your job as a writer.įor a master class in doing this right you can consult the work of Stewart Lee. If they come away thinking something is true when you invented it then you have crossed an ethical line. When considering the ethics of your creative nonfiction, there are two groups to consider:Īs far as readers go it’s your job as an author not to mislead your audience as to the fact/fiction balance of your piece. That’s certainly the case with creative nonfiction stick to ethical behavior in your writing and you’ll have nothing to worry about legally. ![]() Laws, and especially laws regarding art, are almost always intended as an extension of ethical conduct. Because of that this article will share some factors (both ethical and legal) that authors should have in mind to keep themselves out of trouble when writing creative nonfiction. Of course it would be nice if every account of a situation met with the approval of everyone involved, but that can’t always be the case. Even if, to you, your account is 100% accurate, some may even object due to their own subjective memory. When writing creative nonfiction it’s often difficult to avoid putting a ‘spin’ on real events which some who were present may object to. Labelling something as ‘nonfiction’ carries with it the assertion that it is in some sense ‘true’, but we’re subjective creatures. The genre does, however, come with its own set of risks. In this way, creative nonfiction is a great way of imbuing real stories with an enhanced readability. Likewise while you could write a story about your parents’ divorce, telling it from the point of view of your pet dog would involve a fair amount of invention. ![]() For instance, you might want to write the story of an accomplished ancestor, but have to invent some minor details that have been lost to history. Factual accounts jazzed up with a creative approach, or a little supposition, they retain the innate relevance of real life events while adding the entertainment value of a well-told tale.Ī straight biography is one thing, but stories thrive on the little moments and there are times when you simply won’t have the information for these without a bit of invention. As an Amazon Affiliate we earn from qualifying purchases.Ĭreative nonfiction can be incredibly compelling. This article may contain affiliate links and we may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. ![]()
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