Structure and the Art of Not-Knowing in the Creative Nonfiction Book

Structure is daunting for all writers of books, but creative nonfiction presents special structural challenges and opportunities. Chief among them is the problem of the author’s expertise and authority—in other words, her knowing. This holds true for memoir, criticism, and even reporting. What does the author know, and when does she know it? This question shapes nonfiction book structure. We’ll talk about how structure is built in different genres of nonfiction books, how to manage time, the hunt for the perfect (nonexistent) structure, and how writing from a place of curiosity, as opposed to expertise, disrupts critical authority and empowers both writer and reader. During our Q&A, questions about students’ individual projects will be welcome—if you share your structural problems, someone else will doubtless be helped by the discussion.