Let's "WRITE!"

Genre for Projects:

Lee Gutkind, editor of the genre-defining journal Creative Nonfiction, defines this style of writing as "true stories well told." He explains:
 

The words 'creative' and 'nonfiction' describe the form. The word 'creative' refers to the use of literary craft, the techniques fiction writers, playwrights, and poets employ to present nonfiction—factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a compelling, vivid, dramatic manner. The goal is to make nonfiction stories read like fiction so that your readers are as enthralled by fact as they are by fantasy. . .'Creative' doesn’t mean inventing what didn’t happen, reporting and describing what wasn’t there. It doesn’t mean that the writer has a license to lie. The cardinal rule is clear—and cannot be violated. This is the pledge the writer makes to the reader—the maxim we live by, the anchor of creative nonfiction: 'You can’t make this stuff up!' 

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Creative nonfiction has two main components: narrative and reflection. 

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Guidelines for Audio-Essay:

You will use the linguistic mode (alphabetic text) to compose an aural project--a piece of creative nonfiction in the form of a short audio-essay.
 

1. You must tell a true story, and you should do so in a creative way.
    

2. Choose one very specific experience on which to focus.
    

3. Your project must have a narrative arc. You are telling a story in a purposeful and rhetorically effective sequence--chronologically or otherwise.
    

4. You should make meaning through exploring this experience, so your narrative should contain reflection.
    

5. The aural mode will be conveyed through your voice as you tell the story, but you should experiment with other forms of the aural such as sound effects and/or music to help articulate your ideas. This is part of the "creative" in a creative nonfiction audio-essay.
    

6. Your final project should be 4-7 minutes—no less or more.
    

7. Demonstrate that you can apply what you have learned about sound production and editing and make wise rhetorical choices about your use of the aural mode.
    

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Keys to Composing Strong Narrative and Reflection:

• Focus on ONE event. You can provide a little necessary background if needed. Do not write about the summer you traveled in France; rather, explore one finite but significant experience you had one afternoon.  In sum, choose a finite personal experience (like in "Salvation" by Langston Hughes), or maybe two finite experiences connected thematically (like in "Dust Off"). Thoroughly detail a specific experience. 
   

• The first few sentences should be especially engaging! Drop the reader right into the scene. Here are a few of my favorite openings to creative nonfiction pieces:
   

  • I am sleeping hard when the telephone rings. It's my brother, and he's calling to say he's now my sister. I feel something fry a little, deep behind my eyes.
    (From Oranges and Sweet Sister Boy, by Judy Ruiz)
     

  • The first time my old man went to prison, I wrote him letters. I wrote Darryl long rambling letters that went on for 10 or 11 pages. 
    (From Love Letters, by Megan Foss)
     

  • My mother is standing in front of the bathroom mirror smelling polished and ready; like Jean Nate, Dippity Do and the waxy sweetness of lipstick.
    (From Running with Scissors: A Memoir, by Augusten Burroughs)
     

• Use concrete information and specific details. Describe what you saw. Show the setting in a critical, analytical way that moves beyond generalizations and clichés. Details help a piece of writing come alive and are the evidence for your ideas. 
   

• Show, don’t tell. Let the experience tell the story of how you were impacted. Your story can speak for itself. Try to write in scenes. Imagine the experience is a movie and you are telling us what you see. 
   

• Experiment with purposeful use of tense. Present tense can be engaging. Past tense can be reflective.
   

• Good creative nonfiction uses the narrative to impart reflection; reflection is weaved into the story as it unfolds. Thus, reflection should never be tacked on to the end of the essay or spoken about overtly: “From this experience, I learned that …”
  
  Make your reflection relevant to the reader; the place and what happened there might be unique to you, but the reflection—the meaning of the experience—should help the reader connect to your experience. Every reader should be able to envision your location and imagine and empathize with your narrative and reflection.

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The Rhetorical Situation (Audience):

Imagine you are creating this piece for NPR and your audience is the typical NPR listener--educated, thoughtful, intellectual, and above all, curious. You might also have a secondary audience in mind--Jewish women, people who have had a friend who died from a drug overdose, women who have experienced sexual assault, atheists, fashion bloggers, or any other group of people who might be particularly interested in your story.

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Design Rationale:

The final audio-essay will be accompanied by a 600-800 word design rationale. The original assignment asked you to create your audio essay with the typical NPR listener in mind as your audience, but to also consider a secondary audience. In this alphabetic essay, you should explain your audience and the 5-6 most important rhetorical choices you made as you tried to appeal to this audience. You will make far more than six rhetorical decisions, but focus on those that are  illustrative of your most thoughtful/insightful/creative intentions.

 

This is an opportunity to introduce your project and explain your goals and achievements. As you probably know by now, a seemingly minor effect can actually take a very long time to achieve, and an outside listener may have no idea that you invested several hours in a twelve-second effect--so use this essay to explain your work. Please be honest, but please also be very specific about how and why you made decisions.  

 

You are encouraged to use images, sounds and/or links as part of this reflection.  

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Grading:

Audio-essay: 80 points

Design rationale: 20 points

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Submissions:

1. When a draft is due, you should upload it to SoundCloud (or another platform) and submit one embedded file on your blog. If possible, embed the file rather than posting a link. 

2. When you submit the final audio-essay, include the design rationale in the same post. 

 

Due Date:

You will have opportunities to workshop your project and receive feedback in order to revise. The final project will be due around mid-semester. I don't set a specific date right now because I want you to help me design the course to meet your needs. If you need a little more or less time, we will adjust. I will give you plenty of notice for the final due date.

 

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