Preface to the Third Edition of Tell It Slant
Feeling overwhelmed by data, random information, the flotsam and jetsam of mass culture, we relish the spectacle of a single consciousness making sense of a portion of the chaos. . . . The essay is a haven for the private, idiosyncratic voice in an era of anonymous babble.
—SCOTT RUSSELL SANDERS
Why Tell It Slant?
When Emily Dickinson wrote, “Tell all the Truth but tell it Slant/Success in Circuit lies,” what did she mean? We think she meant that truth takes on many guises; the truth of art can be very different from the truth of day-to-day life. Her poems and letters, after all, reveal her deft observation of the outer world, but it is “slanted” through the poet’s distinctive vision. We chose her poem as both title and epigraph for this book because it so aptly describes the task of the creative nonfiction writer: to tell the truth, yes, but to become more than a mere transcriber of life’s factual experience.
The more you read and study, the more you will discover that creative nonfiction assumes a particular, creating self behind the nonfiction prose. When you set about to write creative nonfiction about any subject, you bring to this endeavor a strong voice and a singular vision. This voice must be loud and interesting enough to be heard among the noise coming at us in everyday life.
We see all the chapters in Tell It Slant as presenting a series of introductions, lessons, and sometimes provocations in the art of writing creative nonfiction. We aim to present the most comprehensive information about creative nonfiction possible, in an accessible form, with a sense of how these techniques have played out in the lives of working writers.
We also want all of the concepts we present to be translatable immediately into actual writing ideas, so each chapter begins with a short personal narrative to give you a sense of how we, the authors, have negotiated the territory. Because we recognize the limits of what we know, we have provided tips from many of the best nonfiction writers working today to expand our expertise in particular areas of creative nonfiction. At the end of each chapter, we provide a series of prompts to help you put into action the principles we’ve explained. Use them as starting points to “tell it slant” and create your own brand of creative nonfiction.
The Evolution of Tell It Slant
Since the first edition of Tell It Slant was published in 2003, creative nonfiction as a genre has been growing and shaping itself before our eyes. The term creative nonfiction was first used in English in the late 1960s, a fraction of a second in literary history. The term lyric essay, now so important in our genre, was introduced in 1997, by John D’Agata in the journal Seneca Review. All of us who are part of this living, growing genre still make our way through a young and exciting literary landscape.
In 2012, we produced an updated, second edition that responded to the exponential growth in the field, highlighting new forms and innovations while also looking in-depth at the tools you need to produce great writing.
Now, seven years later, we saw the need for a new, fully updated third edition that addresses how the field of creative nonfiction continues to evolve in a quickly changing world, even as we keep those basics of great writing, revising, and publishing in mind. Whenever it’s time to update this book, we return to the job with renewed excitement. Part of that feeling is our love for this genre. Part of it, too, is how much, even in a few years, there is to talk about—how much has happened in creative nonfiction that’s truly new. We continue to see great growth, formal experimentation, and much discussion about what this genre can and should do.
We would like to acknowledge here the essential input we received from Brenda’s students in her Introduction to Creative Nonfiction course at Western Washington University in winter 2019. They gamely read and field-tested many of the revisions and additions to this third edition, noting where we’d gotten it right and where we had some blind spots. Their detailed and insightful feedback put the finishing touches on this book, helping us make it even more relevant for today’s readers.
Writing that falls under the rubric of creative nonfiction has always existed, of course, and we sprinkle historical readings throughout this book to remind our readers (and ourselves!) of this fact. But a great deal of very different literary work has historically been huddled under the umbrella of “the essay”: meditation, memory, argument, opinion, vignette. Now we want to further explore this genre, theorize it, and play with it. What an exciting time to be here, in the world of creative nonfiction.
Highlights of the Fully Updated Third Edition
For this new edition, we have revised every chapter extensively, considering the relevance of each topic and example. We pulled some text, and added much more. Here are some of the highlights:
• Added a new chapter, “The Body of Identity,” that more directly addresses such topics as race, sexual and gender identity, and disability.
• Expanded “The Body of Memory” to include issues of body image and illness.
• Expanded “The Five (or Six) Senses of Memory” section, with more discussion and examples on how to render memories in vivid, sensory detail, including the “sixth sense.”
• Expanded “Writing the Family” to include more direct references to and examples of writing one’s cultural identity.
• Revised and expanded our research chapter to include detailed discussion of techniques such as immersion, primary sources, research mapping, and more, making research both accessible and fun.
• Created a new anthology section at the end of the book, with a dozen powerful and formally diverse essays providing literary examples that range from the traditional essay to the graphic memoir.
• Added suggested reading lists at the end of each chapter to allow readers to easily put together their own creative writing course.
• Fully updated and expanded references to diverse creative nonfiction works and historical events throughout the book.
• Fully updated “Publishing Your Creative Nonfiction” to add more hands-on techniques, such as following the “breadcrumbs” left by other authors to find your dream editors and publications.
• Added a new chapter, “Putting on Our Editors’ Hats,” using our perspectives as editors to discuss what publishing looks like, and how submissions succeed, from the editor’s point of view.
• Expanded our discussion of contemporary and emerging forms and strategies, including the “looping” essay, the video essay, flash nonfiction, the micro essay that can use platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, and the hybrid essay.
• Added an appendix, “Good Habits for Healthy Writers,” that covers work–life balance, stress reduction, and practices that help you handle the difficulties of the writing life.
The Role of Our “Try Its”
For this new edition, we have also refreshed and revamped our writing prompts, called “Try Its.” Our Try Its offer a way to begin new writing, a relief from blank computer screens, and a way of strengthening particular writing muscles. They’ll engage you and move you beyond your literary comfort zones.
We carefully shape and field-test our Try Its. They are designed to help you move from taking in the concepts presented in each chapter to applying those concepts in your own work. These prompts, or writing challenges, are “exercises” in the sense that they may not always result in a finished essay; sometimes they’re just practice. Unlike exercises on a piano or the like, though, our Try Its will often lead you to something new and complete. As writer Pamela Painter puts it, there is “nothing artificial about an exercise—except the origin of the prompt. What you write in response to that prompt becomes organically your own with the first words you write.”
The Tell It Slant Website
We also offer with this edition a new book website, found at wp.wwu.edu/tellitslant/. For teachers—or for writers who would like to structure their own individual writing course—we have provided sample syllabi on the website, providing ways to use this book flexibly for different purposes in learning. We provide links to many excellent online readings and resources as well as blog posts aimed at the writing teacher and writing learner. We also offer classroom activities that can help instructors use specific chapters, readings, and Try Its to create a complete class.
You can contact Brenda and Suzanne through the book website or our Facebook page, with anything from questions about using the book to requests for classroom visits, in person or via videoconferencing programs. We want this book to work for you, whatever your slant may be, as a teacher, a learner, and a writer.
We believe that deep within you is a work of art only you can breathe into being. We can coach you and help you develop the muscles you need, but we trust that you will find, between the lines here, the prompts that spur only you, the book that begins where ours ends. Breathe deeply! Now let’s begin.
TRY IT
What do you already know about creative nonfiction?
Have you read a particular book or short piece that, to you, embodies the genre of creative nonfiction? It may have been published in print or online. It may have been something you read on social media. It may have been something a family member or friend wrote in a letter or email. Write down your memories of this work or seek it out to read again. What makes this work memorable? What draws you to the writer’s voice? What can you learn about the genre from this piece of writing?
FOR FURTHER READING
Throughout the book you will see suggested readings around particular topics. Here is a list of more general anthologies and resources that can also act as companions to Tell It Slant.
Resources Available Online
• Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies (an online journal dedicated to a study of creative nonfiction)
• Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction ( an online journal that showcases a wide variety of contemporary flash nonfiction, along with craft essays and a blog)
• Creative Nonfiction (a print journal with extensive online content)
• Hippocampus Magazine: Memorable Creative Nonfiction (an online journal dedicated to creative nonfiction)
• Quotidiana (a website that houses classic essays in the public domain)
• The Sun (a print magazine that posts many of its creative nonfiction pieces online)
Print Resources
Anthologies of Creative Nonfiction
• Waveform: Twenty-First-Century Essays by Women, edited by Marcia Aldrich
• The Next American Essay (A New History of the Essay), edited by John D’Agata
• In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction, edited by Lee Gutkind
• Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Creative Nonfiction, edited by Judith Kitchen
• Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction, edited by Judith Kitchen and Dinah Lenney
• The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present, edited by Phillip Lopate
• In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction, edited by Mary Paumier Jones and Judith Kitchen
• In Brief: Short Takes on the Personal, edited by Mary Paumier Jones and Judith Kitchen
• The Far Edges of the Fourth Genre: An Anthology of Explorations in Creative Nonfiction, edited by Sean Prentiss and Joe Wilkins
• The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers of/on Creative Nonfiction, edited by Robert Root, Jr., and Michael Steinberg
• Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers, edited by Theresa Warburton and Elissa Washuta
• The Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: Work from 1970 to the Present, edited by Lex Williford and Michael Martone
• The Best American Essays series, published annually (each collection includes an Introduction by the guest editor that articulates key topics in creative nonfiction)
Print Journals Specializing in Creative Nonfiction
• Creative Nonfiction: True Stories, Well Told
• Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction
• River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative