Creative Non-FictionWriting:Appreciating the beauty and the aesthetics of authentic narratives.ALAIN T.RAMOS, InstructorACT 2-3:Theautobiography as an account of one’s ownAt the end of this act, you should be able to:identify various elements in biographical accounts as a form of creative non-fiction.compare and contrast the differences of an autobiography and abiography;explore one’s memory as empirical account of the written narrative.write an autobiography and appreciate one’s humble beginnings andexplore future endeavors.STARTING LINEWriting is invasive, so they say.More so if one has to write about himself or herself as truthful as possible.Personal essays, to be exact, does that.As what is true with all personal essays, abiography or autobiography are examples of creative non-fiction writing thatbares one’s memory into paper—a recollection of memory within a span of time isa necessary element for this type of writing to even happen.At first glance, theautobiography may appear to be a simple retelling of specific memory or asuperficial revisit of one’s own pasts. It is not.Creative and non-conventionalautobiographies showcase internal realizations of the author about his or heradventures and misadventures, his learning juiced out from those experiencesand it may even reveal his future plans and how he or she sees herself in thedistant future, much like a prophecy. This only happens when the writer knowswho she is, where he has been, and where he wants to be.All of this add up to afew of the reasons why writing an autobiography is invasive, and personal.So, to begin with, let’s get close and personal.On the use of the first person point of view…The intimate nature of autobiography as a form of creative non-fictionnecessitates the use of the first-person-point-of-view or the “I”-point of view.The use of this POV gives a sense of ownership to a particular snippet or strainof memory present in the text or narrative and therefore becomes moreauthentic and real.Take a look at this example:“From what I could gather of my earliest memories, the vast rice fields andmultiple creeks were everyday sight.When dusk would fall, the sound ofcrickets would follow; the fireflies and lightning arcing across the sky in electricbursts.It was an old, languid town inhabited by old, languid people.The sametraditional folks whose names came with the town and whose names shalldissolve with it.This is Sto. Domingo.”This paragraph showcases the magic of the first person point of view.
