8. For instance, your lead character must
be shown to be living a normal life
when something happens to pull him
or her away from that life.
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9. There must be an object of desire the
lead character wants, and obstacles
placed in his or her path.
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10. There must be a moment when it
seems all is lost, a resolution and a
denouement, when things return to
normal.
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19. Give some thought to things like
theme, symbolism, style and irony.
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20. Step 7
Review your finished story and make
sure everything is true.
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21. If you added a character, made up
dialogue or described events that
never took place, you've moved away
from literary non-fiction to fiction
based on fact.
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22. Personal essays and memoirs
constitute two significant strands of
contemporary creative nonfiction.
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23. Personal essays, on the whole, are
mostly based on the reflective account
of a remarkable experience in the life
of the author/narrator, along with a
more opinionated stance.
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24. The personal essay is more about the
thought process of the author as he
embarks, along with the reader to the
journey of his mental world.
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25. Throughout the journey, the reader
becomes involved with the subtle
shades and nuances of the author’s
thought process.
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26. The mark of a memorable personal
essay is the amalgamation of
memory, emotions and sensations of
the author that make the piece
alive, vivid and compelling.
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27. While personal essays are almost
always exclusively based on personal
experiences, throughout the narrative,
the author sincerely tries to convey
what he feels about those experiences.
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28. The Reporter’s Shopping List
Setting: where, when
Characters: who
Complication: what happens/why
Process of resolving/responding: who did what and why
Resolution: where does it stand at deadline
Closure: the final what is ‘so what’
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