I have to admit that I initially overlooked non-fiction as a creative genre of literature. I guess I never realized that there were so many different possibilities when it comes to writing creative non-fiction. From biographies to cook books, non-fiction is a huge component of contemporary literature. In my ignorance, I neglected to realize that about 70% of what I read is actually creative non-fiction. Needless to say, my appreciation for non-fiction has grown and I now tend to notice the creative literary aspects present in most non-fiction writing. I think that making non-fiction creative and engaging is a real skill that most people often overlook.
I love music. So, when I realized that music reviews are a legitimate form of creative non-fiction, naturally it peaked my interest in non-fiction. I have been reading music reviews from Rolling Stone magazine for a while. I spent a couple of hours reading the most recent reviews from some of my favorite bands. I found that many of the reviews are literary and very creative. For example the reviews I read for Daft Punk's newest album, Random Access Memories, and Vampire Weekend's Modern Vampires of the City were littered with allusions and artistic metaphors. The review for the Great Gatsby Soundtrack even concluded with the final lines of F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous masterpiece. The language engaged the reader and painted a lovely picture of the essence of each album. I continued to read reviews for Phoenix's Bankrupt and The Strokes' long-awaited album, Comedown Machine, among others. In every review I could see the intention to creatively express the essence of each album in its most basic form. I gained a better appreciation for creative non-fiction and now I have more motivation to read different genres of non-fiction.
Interestingly enough, most of what I write is creative non-fiction. I spent Fall semester writing for the The Student Review newspaper in Provo. I had the opportunity to write a couple op-eds and I even wrote a music review of my own. Studying this genre has definitely opened my eyes to the potential of writing creative non-fiction. I thought it sounded boring, but it really isn't. . . unless you're reading the phone book.
Yesssss. The music review. I read them in the WSJ every week, too! Those and film review. It's crazy to think they can be categorized with other forms of more...let's say...literary creative non-fiction.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? This whole unit has changed my perspective of what I'm reading. Instead of just thinking about what the article or review or story is telling me, I'm now thinking of how it is written so I can categorize it as literary or creative.
DeleteYeah we were talking about this in class but it is interesting when you step and back look at how much non-fiction you actually read. For me it was a lot more than I originally thought.
ReplyDeleteRead your music review. The comment about gender confused pop divas was hilarious. I have never been on the student review website before so I checked out the other music stuff they had. I thought the best albums of 2012 had a lot of interesting choices. Dan Deacon at number 1? Not so sure about that. Of course, they probably are not allowed to endorse Frank Ocean or Kendrick Lamar, but what about Fiona Apple or Godspeed You Black Emperor?
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