What did these last three essays add to my definition of creative nonfiction? My definition was so vague, they cannot clearly add much. So allow me to reexamine.
The first three essays were concerned with the internal world of the essayists. They dealt with the feelings and emotions, dreams and memories that their authors felt or had at various times in their lives. They also used literary techniques, such as verse, caesura, and narrative to tell what are essentially true tales. At least we believe them to be true, and with little evidence to contradict what other choice do we have? Would the authors even know? Danticat questions her memory in Westbury Court, and Celebrity Dreaming is a collection of dream images. So these are true stories inasmuch as memory equals truth.
The second set of essays are much more concerned with things in the external world that the essayists see and interact with. What is most common between these essays and the first three are the literary devices, which are similar, and the level of personal involvement that exists between the subjects. While these authors are focused more externally, they still only discuss the areas of their topics as those topics pertain to themselves.
So how do I revise my definition? Creative nonfiction is telling stories of personal reflection on some topic which are true, using literary devices that are usually reserved for the writing of fiction. Thh topics covered can be literally anything, but seem only to cover the extent to which that topic interacts or overlaps with the author. I think the personal element of creative nonfiction wsa lacking from my previous definition, but is crucial to all of these essays.
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