nonfiction
Books, articles, films, or other content about real facts and real events, not invented stories.
Writing, books, films, or other content that presents facts, real events, and real people rather than invented stories.
Used to describe a book, film, or program that is about real things, not an invented story.
Based on facts, real events, or real people, especially as a type of book, film, program, or other content.
- Base: nonfiction
- Plural: nonfiction
creative nonfiction
1true stories with literary style
True writing that uses some of the style and storytelling methods of fiction.
- Her memoir is often taught as creative nonfiction.
- The magazine publishes essays, profiles, and other creative nonfiction.
- He blends research and personal experience in his creative nonfiction.
- Creative nonfiction tells true stories in an interesting style.
- She wrote a creative nonfiction essay about her family.
literary nonfiction
1nonfiction with literary quality
Nonfiction that is written with a strong, artistic style.
- The anthology includes poetry, short stories, and literary nonfiction.
- Her essays are examples of literary nonfiction at its best.
- Students analyzed the structure and voice of a piece of literary nonfiction.
- We read literary nonfiction in my writing class.
- The essay is literary nonfiction, so it is true but beautifully written.
long-form nonfiction
1extended factual writing
Long nonfiction articles or essays that explore a topic deeply.
- The website is known for long-form nonfiction on politics and culture.
- She moved from daily news reporting into long-form nonfiction.
- A good piece of long-form nonfiction gives readers context, characters, and evidence.
- He likes reading long-form nonfiction online.
- The article is long-form nonfiction about climate change.
narrative nonfiction
1true events told as story
A true book or article that is written like a story.
- The book is narrative nonfiction about a team of scientists racing to stop an epidemic.
- Good narrative nonfiction can make history feel immediate and dramatic.
- The course focuses on memoir, reporting, and narrative nonfiction.
- This narrative nonfiction book tells a true adventure story.
- I like narrative nonfiction because it reads like a novel.
nonfiction novel
1true account like a novel
A book about real events that is written in a style similar to a novel.
- The author described the book as a nonfiction novel about a famous criminal case.
- A nonfiction novel may read like fiction, but it is built from reported facts.
- Critics debated how much invention a nonfiction novel can allow.
- The nonfiction novel tells a true crime story.
- It reads like a novel, but the events are real.