Creative Nonfiction Godfather Lee Gutkind - Interview

The genre called by the clumsy name "Creative Nonfiction" has been changing everything in prose.  Its influence is being felt in what used to be colorless corporate annual reports, information-only nonfiction books, so-called "objective" news articles, marketing communications and even Internet content.

I have a hunch that without Creative Nonfiction the first-person passionate tone and stylistics of the blogosphere wouldn't have been possible.  After I learned about Creative Nonfiction and studied its approaches, I incorporated all that into my own blog and readership soared.

In an exclusive interview for this blog, Lee Gutkind, who is known as the godfather of Creative Nonfiction, is sharing his insights about this genre.  Mr. Gutkind wears many hats:  Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh, author of 19 books and hundreds of essays, award-winning documentary filmmaker and Editor and Founder of CREATIVE NONFICTION Journal. His commentary frequently airs on TV and radio.

Jane Genova:

For months after I had seen you on C-Span discussing this entity called "Creative Nonfiction," I've been trying to shoehorn myself into your schedule for an exclusive interview.  Well, I finally have your undivided attention. So, let's begin.

What is Creative Nonfiction, Professor Gutkind?

Lee Gutkind:

I assume readers want the short version. Creative Nonfiction is a drilling down to the essence of storytelling.  Storytelling, a primitive art, is as old as the beginning of mankind.  People want to receive what's out there in the form of stories, not just facts, opinion, analysis.  You might think of Creative Nonfiction as a blending of narrative and information.

Basically, Creative Nonfiction is the art of bringing to prose all the properties of storytelling: Drama, dialog, characterization, detailed descriptions, point of view, speculation about what's going on in the minds of the characters or "inner monologues." All this has long been part of poetry and fiction.  Now it's part of nonfiction.

The art of Creative Nonfiction, as we see in the works of Joan Didion, Gay Talese and all those writers for VANITY FAIR, NEW YORKERS and ESQUIRE, injects the story into the information.  That makes the whole package more compelling and, yes, emotionally and intellectually satisfying.

And there are two types of stories.  One type is one's own story.  The other type is telling the stories of others.

Thanks to this genre, writers of nonfiction can now use the tools of the reporter, the points of view and ear for dialog of a novelist, and the passion and wordplay of the poet.

Jane Genova:

But if storytelling is almost the DNA of how information and perspectives have been transmitted in society, why was there a need for a genre such as Creative Nonfiction?

Lee Gutkind:

That's a question I get all the time.  From about the 1940s through the 1970s, nonfiction writers, be they in corporations, newspapers or political circles, weren't "allowed" to use narrative.  There prevailed the myth of objectivity.  As a result, it was supposed to be a Sergeant Friday Just-The-Facts approach, no expression of opinion, no setting of the scene, no reflection, no sense of the author's voice or personality.  That myth of objectivity made nonfiction increasingly unread.  In feature articles, we could be playful in the opening and clever in the end but in the middle it was back to the boring basics.

Jane Genova:

What changed all that?

Lee Gutkind:

TV - For one thing!

Jane Genova:

TV?  How did TV bring storytelling and all its magic back?

Lee Gutkind:

As TV embedded itself into the national consciousness, it got us to remember how more than just the facts transmits truth and reality - and in fun, engaging ways.  TV also showed us how telling our stories, confronting our own truths makes us and the people with whom we're sharing feel less lonely and alienated.  It also delivered experiences in ways that were easy to digest and learn from.

That's precisely what blogging and podcasting are doing today.  Those are intimate and informative media, just as Creative Nonfiction is.  And they render the service of delivering truths in ways that society will accept and will apply them to their personal lives, careers and public activities.

Jane Genova:

Okay, now readers demanded more from writers, right!  How did that change the game for writers such as myself?

Lee Gutkind:

Creative Nonfiction put the writer back out there.  No longer could a writer be a recluse. He or she had to leave the typewriter (back then it was still the trusty Selectric) and be part of the experience.  The writer had to experience "what is real life" on a first-hand basis, observing, reflecting, making judgments.  The greatness of the Creative Nonfiction of Norman Mailer exists because as an author he instinctively realized that he had to be part of what he was attempting to make sense of.  That could have been the dark side of human nature (his book on Gary Gilmore) or what was the human craving for fantasy (his book on Marilyn Monroe).  To paraphrase the cliche, Mr. Mailer was not only a man of the world but of many worlds.

In addition, Creative Nonfiction puts the burden on the writer to formulate and deliver a message.  That is, the concept of service was re-introduced into prose.  I see it in courses that I teach: Writers who are narcissistic or trapped within themselves and their craft aren't capable of rendering a service and they will go unread.  The same result happens in the blogosphere.  Bloggers intent on self-expression which renders no service to readers don't get read.

Third, writers now have to reveal themselves, but in an artistic or organized manner.  Readers want to know who Joan Didion or John McPhee are.

Incidentally, this need for communicating a sense of self has been a form of healing for many Creative Fiction writers.  In fact, that's why the genre is being so widely taught, everywhere from seminars for the elderly to courses in middle schools to workshops in facilities for the emotionally disturbed.  Of course, not every writer can make this leap into total transparency.  Many try out the genre and leave it to others.

Jane Genova:

As a writer of a lot, and I mean a lot, of Creative Nonfiction such as "Forever Fat: Essays by the Godfather," you must have been changed by this genre.  Could you discuss how being a Creative Nonfiction writer has influenced you personally?

Lee Gutkind:

There are so many ways to "know" or to sort out reality and learn.  The process of researching, observing, reflecting, writing and rewriting Creative Nonfiction has provided me with one more way to discover the world and parts of myself.  That includes my past.  The term being used for that currently is "healing." But the process of creating prose - and it's a rigorous one - balances story with service to society is much more than healing.  It has to be.  Every time I make the journey through this process I acquire the equivalent of an intellectual and emotional Ph.D. in Life & Living.

Jane Genova:

There are many writers limiting the potential of what they can derive from this medium by approaching it solely as healing, right?

Lee Gutkind:

If that's their goal, then wonderful.  For some it can be much more.  This medium we call Creative Nonfiction is a multi-functional tool.  Creative Nonfiction writers like Annie Dillard, Diane Ackerman, and John Edgar Wideman can be eminently personal and effectively universal at the same time.

Jane Genova:

What is the major obstacle, in your experience, to writers' being able to produce great Creative Nonfiction?  Is it the inability to get in touch with themselves or to be able to connect with the world out there?

Lee Gutkind:

All sorts of things can and do get in the way of the creative process.  But what I find the real wrench in the works is the reluctance to work hard.  By this I mean: Plenty of research, plenty of thought and analysis, and an ongoing onslaught of revision. 

There is tremendous pain and essential honesty involved in recognizing that the first 26 drafts aren't quite there and to keep improving the content.  Writers have to be willing to take on that pain.  Most want to share their essay or book much too quickly.  Those who accept the pain of hard work and revising are those who get published.

Jane Genova:

So, how can writers learn to become "pros" in Creative Nonfiction?

Lee Gutkind:

It's the same as becoming skilled and finally the master of any craft: Study the greats.  Analyze what they do and don't do.  And, one of the best and most cost-effective ways to do that is to subscribe to CREATIVE NONFICTION Journal.

CREATIVE NONFICTION Journal is devoted to publishing great examples of this genre.  The gatekeepers on the journal, that is those who select what goes in, are the top craftspeople in the field.

Jane Genova:

How can I subscribe to CREATIVE NONFICTION Journal?

Lee Gutkind:

On the web you can simply key in "Creative Nonfiction Journal" or go directly to the site at http://www.creativenonfiction.org/thejournal/subscribe.htm.

Lee Gutkind's books can be purchased at amazon.com and also at CREATIVE NONFICTION online bookstore.  Professor Gutkind is also a consultant who provides workshops on crafting Creative Nonfiction.  Visit his website at http://www.leegutkind.com or http://www.creativenonfictioninterviewblog.doc.