CNF Invades Real Life

What is the definition of “story”?

I’m serious—what is it? You would imagine that as a grad student in the English writing department, I would know the definition of story. You would imagine my classmates might as well. Yet we spend every class—whether discussing our own work or established books—trying to answer the question, “What’s story?”

It’s a simple enough question. Each professor has variations on the theme: What’s the Frame? What’s the Focus? What’s the Narrative? But what’s it about? And my favorite: Who cares?

On Monday night, Professor Intimidating took a half an hour to quiz and lecture us about story, helping us see that a time frame of someone doing something is not a story. And you would think that after yet another lecture with this question, I could define “story” for you. But I can’t. It’s still a vague concept.

Last night, during the four-hour election results extravaganza, one of the news networks consistently used the words “story” and “narrative” to describe what was going on. “This story that is unfolding before us tonight...” “Slowly, the narrative that we are telling here is beginning to emerge.” “The end of the night will determine the story we are following.” etc. etc.

[I forget which network it was—we kept switching back and forth between the talking heads. (And did anyone else notice how the networks kept trying to out-do each other with looking like video game backdrops? Holograms, fancy maps, bar graphs popping out of the floor…)]

Stephen Colbert even used the term “composite character,” another Creative Nonfiction term.

What bothered me, I think, was that last night’s results were not the whole of the story. As I tried to fit the reporter’s use of “story” into my professor’s definition lecture, I couldn’t do it. The election was not the whole of the story—and by itself it would not even make a good frame for a story (at least I don’t think so—but this is subjective).

Last night was the end of the climax. (or maybe the end of the prologue!)

Depending on the storyteller, the story that unfolded last night may have begun two years ago or two hundred years ago. So many elements, so many characters, so much building tension and suspense. Last night was not the story. The results had already been determined by characters not shown in the results. But it was an amazing ending, that’s for sure!

It intrigued me that the narrative of story was used so much in describing the results. If anything, the overuse of the term verified why creative nonfiction exists—we tell things in story. We remember events in story. When we read information as story, we remember it more clearly.

Perhaps my favorite quote—and I’m paraphrasing, and again I don’t know what network, I’m such a pathetic fact-checker—was the one about how America is showing, not telling, the world about her values. Show, not tell—the most basic story writing advice ever.

Creative Nonfiction has invaded real life. Or maybe real life has invaded it.

Happy Day-After-Election Day!

Check out what Maxine Hong Kingston has to say about our new President Elect:
Obama on O’ahu