The Challenges of Being a Non-fiction Writer

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters

After writing my response to a submission for brief one, I’ve been thinking about the limitations of being a non-fiction writer. Looking at the small number of videos that I could choose to respond to was a bit daunting at first. My preferred style of writing is review but we were specifically asked to respond to—not analyse or critique—the work so I had to think more loosely about how I could apply my skills to the task. I chose to follow a thread of memories that the emotion of the video brought to my mind.

I found this somewhat challenging until I started writing and found a flow. But I couldn’t help but wonder whether students who preferred to write fiction or poetry found this task easier. Rather than trying to relate what they saw to something else that already exists, they could create something entirely new. This made me curious about other ways I could respond to the videos while still staying in my chosen field of non-fiction. I’m interested so see how other students have responded to the videos and to challenge myself to respond in new ways in the coming briefs.