October 2017 – Home of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

Episode 73—Patsy Sims on Book Research as Mini-education, Not Giving Up, and “The Stories We Tell”

“The novel I always wanted to write didn’t have to be fiction.”

“What they gave women was pitiful.”

“Sure, you have everything on the tape recorder, but that’s the beauty of it and it’s up to me to be selective.”

“Transcribing is another point of getting this in your head.”

“I guess the lesson there is perseverance. Not giving up.”

Hey, CNFers, it’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast the show where I speak with the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction. I try and tease out the origins and tactics from leaders in narrative journalism (like S usan Orlean), personal essay (like Elizabeth Rush), memoir (like Andre Dubus III), radio (like Joe Donahue), and documentary film (like Penny Lane), so you can apply their tools of mastery to your own work. Continue reading “Episode 73—Patsy Sims on Book Research as Mini-education, Not Giving Up, and “The Stories We Tell””

Episode 72—Creative Nonfiction’s Hattie Fletcher Kickstarts Year 2 of ‘True Story’

By Brendan O’Meara

“[True Story] is a snack between the main meal.” —Hattie Fletcher

It’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction, leaders in the world of narrative journalism, documentary film, essay, memoir and radio and try to deconstruct how these masters go about the work so that you can improve your own.

This week I welcome back Hattie Fletcher, who is the managing editor for Creative Nonfiction Magazine. What prompted a second trip? Hattie, along with Lee Gutkind and the team over at Creative Nonfiction, started a $27,000 Kickstarter campaign to support the second year of True Story, their monthly offshoot to the quarterly magazine.

True Story is a 5,000-10,000-word stand-alone piece in chapbook or digital form. It’s pretty rad.

In this episode we talk about:

What makes the green-lit pieces pop
What the rejected pieces have in common
And also some of the goodies you can expect with a pledge.

I hope after listening to this you’ll head over to the Kickstarter campaign and pledge some hard-earned dough so they can keep doing the work they’re doing on True Story.

Full disclosure, I don’t get any kickbacks of any kind.

What a guy.

It would be nice if you shared the episode and even left a nice review over on iTunes to help validate the podcast so I can keep doing this thing. I’d hate for the business office to come down and slam the door shut on this enterprise. Keep the reviews coming so I can keep the doors open at CNFHQ.

Episode 71—Working Backward with Elizabeth Rush

Elizabeth Rush, Brendan O'Meara — Elizabeth Rush, whose essay “Something Like Vertigo” appeared in Creative Nonfiction Issue 64, joins me on the podcast this week.

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Elizabeth Rush (@elizabetharush on Twitter):

“I’m just a mule. I just show up every day and climb very, very slowly up that mountain.”

“I know writing is about your writing, but it’s also about your networking.”

“My first draft is the Ugly Middle.”

“I feel like I turn to writers to help me solve problems that I’m having.”

Continue reading “Episode 71—Working Backward with Elizabeth Rush”

Episode 70—Erica Westly on Softball and Structure

Erica Westly is the author of “Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game.”

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Erica Westly (@westlyer on Twitter):

“That sense of discovery when you come across a story you had no idea existed.”

“The book project was my last hope for getting to do the type of writing I wanted to do.”

“I’ve kind of learned to live with the self-loathing I think.”

“I try to picture myself telling the story to someone at the bus stop.”

It’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast where I speak to the world’s best artists about creating works of nonfiction. Leaders in the world of narrative journalism, memoir, essay, radio, and documentary film share their tools and tricks with you so you can improve your own work.

Continue reading “Episode 70—Erica Westly on Softball and Structure”