Personal Honesty and Privacy
PAID: How to face the truth challenge in nonfiction storytelling
Dear Inside Readers: As spring blossoms, I’ve added my first writing resource here for paid subscribers — and I encourage you to support my work by upgrading to a paid subscription ($30 annual/$5 month).
I don’t paywall most of my posts, but in the coming months, I plan to launch more resources and an online writing workshop for paid subscribers, one that will focus on personal nonfiction. Keep reading for a preview below — and Happy Spring!
Questions: First-Person Nonfiction
• How much of a personal story is true?
• Can I mix facts with memories or imagination?
• How much do I need to reveal about myself?
Writing about your own life may seem easy at first glance. It’s based on what you know and remember, not a bunch of outside research, and — phew! — you don’t need to fact-check yourself.
Or do you?
That depends on the kind of nonfiction story you’re telling. In my experience, however, the big questions listed above inevitably pop up, and trying to duck them is an instinctive flinch. I know it well, because wrestling with how honest to be in personal nonfiction can feel like it initially brings down the high of writing. It’s the equivalent of a sourpuss at a narrative party.
And yet, it doesn’t have to be. Instead, use these questions to identify the dramatic tensions in your story and to direct how you revise it for an audience. What I want to get across, especially to literary writers, is this: letting readers in on the key facts underpinning your story — who, what, where, when — spoils nothing.
Indeed, honesty about your own experiences enriches the telling and makes a personal story more credible. It’s not just a matter of hooking readers or making your “I” more fascinating. It’s about the individual and quirky places honesty will take your readers.
That may sound like a matter of faith, given the success of all sorts of influencers and other story massagers in the marketplace. I do have faith in what I’m saying, but there’s an empirical basis for it, too. I’ve worked with many writers and journalists over the years, as an editor and a teacher. I’ve observed how hard the best personal storytellers work to get the facts right and the strong impact this has on readers.
Of course, the fact slope is slippery. Many stories about ourselves are handed down, and they shift as time rolls on. You may never know all the facts or be able to verify what happened with a family member or other source.
So, you generate all sorts of material, some of it spun from imagination, some so painful you never want others to hear it. But there’s a crucial difference between the process of generating a story and sharing that story in public. And once you begin shaping a personal story for an audience, you’ll face the truth challenge.
That’s what I’m here to help you with.
Be Transparent and Vulnerable
An honest approach to first-person nonfiction starts with your intentions. Are you writing a journalistic article that includes personal anecdotes? This requires research to verify what you know. Are you writing memoir or a personal essay? There, facts may mix with memories and more imaginative material.
Think in terms of transparency. In a first-person story, you can talk directly to your audience. Being transparent about your information sources, biases, and uncertainties is more radically truthful than just checking facts. You acknowledge your subjectivity rather than attempting to sound objective.
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