Offutt’s guide to literary terms

“nonfiction: Prose that is factual, except for newspapers.

“creative nonfiction: Prose that is true, except in the case of memoir.

“memoir: From the Latin memoria, meaning “memory,” a popular form in which the writer remembers entire passages of dialogue from the past, with the ultimate goal of blaming the writer’s parents for his current psychological challenges.

“novel: A quaint, longer form that fell out of fashion with the advent of the memoir.

“short story: An essay written to conceal the truth and protect the writer’s family.”

This excerpt is from “The Offutt Guide to Literary Terms,” by Chris Offutt, published in Seneca Review and excerpted in Harper’s.

3 Comments

• Shirley says:

  April 30, 2010 at 12:22 am

  These are fabulous, Richard. I must make a link to this page in my blog!

  Thanks,

  Shirley

  Reply
• Defining Memoir–With Tongue Firmly in Cheek | 100 Memoirs says:

  May 10, 2010 at 1:21 am

  […] to Richard Gilbert, whose wonderful blog Narrative I highly recommend, I can include a link  guaranteed to induce a […]

  Reply
  • Richard Gilbert says:

    May 10, 2010 at 3:16 pm

    Thanks, Shirley, glad these tickled. And thank you for the notice on your own wonderful blog!

    Reply