Creatively Genuine: Recent Episodes
Dave Pidgeon
How do you take a family legend that no one alive can truly confirm, and then turn that legend into a scene in your creative nonfiction novel? The backstory of whether a family member deserted the Marine Corps during Christmas 1942.
The movie Dunkirk had a profound inspiration on how I tell the story of my father’s abduction and the investigation into what happened 60 years later. Why? Messing with the chronology proved to be profound.
If you walked into the nonfiction section of Barnes & Noble and pulled a book out from the memoir shelf, and you read that the book is “based on a true story,” how would you feel? Today on Creatively Genuine, talking the creative part of creative nonfiction novel writing.
Your opening scene to the first chapter isn’t the only hook you should be concerned about as a writer. There’s another hook that’s just as vital to keeping the reader interested.
Saturday morning, and after finishing Chapter One of the manuscript, I discuss the difference between straight journalism and creative nonfiction and why for my book I chose the latter.
I bet that title caught your attention. Today I continue work on Chapter One of my creative nonfiction novel, in which my grandmother in 1957 threatens to kill the baby my grandfather has with his teenage mistress. I also discuss why I reject the idea of daily word counts for writers and focus instead on writing scenes.
It’s day one of the effort to write a review draft of my creative nonfiction novel, For Him I Sing, and it begins with a kidnapping. My father’s kidnapping in 1957, to be specific. On this episode I explore that story, why I use it for my opening, and I even read the first page and a half.
Which do you enjoy more: The pursuit of something or the discovery? I pose a question to several experts in the genealogy field as well as share one of my own discoveries. It’s also the day before I begin writing what I hope to be the review manuscript of my creative nonfiction novel.
Railroads, Cincinnati’s secrets, and bringing my father’s life full circle. Here are three things you should know as I start writing a creative nonfiction memoir.
It’s the Sunday before I begin writing the review copy of my book about fathers, sons, and the search for someone missing for 60 years. I reflect upon the three memoirs which provided the inspiration and guidance for writing my own creative nonfiction book.
Now that Thanksgiving is done, it’s time for holiday and Christmas traditions. In this episode, I share a scene from my book where my grandfather would engage in the kind of Christmas tradition you wouldn’t want to replicate.
Dropping by with a deep sense of gratitude, especially for the story that came to me, that I experienced, that I’m gonna tell.
The last visit to a house near Cincinnati my parents have lived in for 14 prompts thoughts of saying goodbye to places where you grew up or changed the direction of your life.
Fear can prohibit freelancers from publishing blogs, podcasts, photography, or any form of creative content. Today, I’m talking about how fear held me back and what we can all do to overcome it.
Should you describe yourself as a “writer” or “aspiring writer” if you haven’t yet published your book?
Writers conferences. They can be helpful, and they can be overwhelming. I use personal experience to offer a few tips to help you use these conferences to your advantage.
Why blocking out two hours for writing works, and how to get out of a manuscript rut. Plus, why you should write a book out of your own personal experience.
How my 30s humbled me. • Your 30s is a crossroads, it's not a destination • I value time as I approach 40 more than I ever did.