"You Can't Handle the Truth!"

 In the 1992 film, A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson gave a line that was recognized by the American Film Institute as the twenty-ninth greatest American Film quote of all time, "You can't handle the truth!"  And it's true, isn't it? Many people cannot handle the truth, they'd prefer to immerse themselves in far away lands that could never exist, which, I believe is why fiction is so popular.  But what about non-fiction, creative non-fiction specifically?  Non-fiction tends to have the reputation of something that's dull and boring, visions of history textbooks read aloud by Ben Stein from the Clear Eyes commercials or monotonously repeating, "Bueller....Bueller...?"  Creative non-fiction, however, allows the writer to completely break away from that stereotype and captivate his/her readers in a story just as dramatic and compelling as those they read in fictional novels (maybe even more so, because they are true)!

Creative non-fiction is a true account of one individual's perspective on a particular event or life experience.  Reflective in nature, its use of fictional elements create a dramatic and compelling effect, provoking thought in hopes to inspire others.

In reading the essays by Gutkind and Lott, I found that they did agree on one thing: you must swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  Gutkind spends most of his time emphasizing this; "strive for the truth...recognize the important distinction between recollected conversation and fabricated dialogue...don't round corners (emphasis added)...to protect the characters in your book, article, or essay...allow them to defend themselves." (Gutkind 353)  It is clear that Gutkind is more concerned with the meticulousness of maintaining credibility than with the creative aspects of creative non-fiction, and in a world where everyone is "sue-happy," rightfully so; our loyalties lie with the truth, not with what we think will sounds better.  Lott takes a more realistic approach, that the truth is debatable.  We all have our own versions of what we believe is the truth, which is why we have a court system.  Lott quotes V.S. Pritchett's memoir, Midnight Oil, "...it is neither a confession nor a volume of literary reminiscences, but as far as I am able I have put in my 'truth'." (Lott 364)  We must go to all lengths of questioning to discover the truest form of our own "truths;" what I've discerned is that what is most important is that the writer's story is true to the best of his/her ability.

Lott also wrote, "Creative nonfiction is, in one form or another, for better and worse, in triumph and failure, the attempt to keep from passing altogether away the lives we have lived." (Lott 359)  We all want to be remembered in some form or another, and Lott defines creative nonfiction as our gateway to doing just that.  It's a way of communicating another perspective, an attempt "of testing one's words...so that all may have that same understanding." (Lott 361)

 His key points on creative nonfiction:
(1) "...it is writing about oneself in relation to the subject at hand."
(2) "...self...must inform the heart of the tale you are telling."
(3) "...the writer must (inquire) of himself, Is this wisdom, or is this folly?"
(4) "Creative nonfiction cannot at any time be self-serving."
(5) "Creative nonfiction must...(look at itself again and again) from all angles in order to see itself more fully."
(6) "Only through rigorous and ruthless questioning of the self can we hope to arrive at any kind of truth."
(7) The writer must remain loyal to the decree of "I will be responsible."

In essence, creative nonfiction, according to Lott, is a truthful work of art that allows the reader to enter the soul of the writer, so that we better understand each other as the complex human beings that we are.  I noticed that he quotes Lopate more than once, my favorite being, "The personal essay is the reverse of that set of Chinese boxes that you keep opening, only to find a smaller one within.  Here you start with the small-- the package full of flaws and limits -- and suddenly find a slightly larger container, insulated by the essay's successful articulation and the writer's self-knowledge."  This is creative nonfiction in a nutshell.

In terms of the digital age, creative nonfiction may have taken a little twist.  Blogging, for instance, as I'm becoming more familiar with it, involves many of the same elements of creative nonfiction, but in an informal setting.  In fact, I'd like to say that it is probably more popular than the classic "essay" style of writing, because it is easily accessible and anyone can be published with the click of a button as long as they have a reliable source of internet.  In the digital sense, I believe that creative nonfiction is becoming less of a proactive work of self-discovery meant to inspire and turning into more of a therapeutic release for those who can't find it elsewhere.