Julian Said:

Does an essay have to be nonfiction?

We Answered:

There is such a thing as a "short short" story. It's called flash fiction. I'm not sure if essays can be fictional though. All the ones I've heard of and have had to write were all nonfiction.

Jeremy Said:

Creative Writing Ideas?

We Answered:

Your first/favorite pet
When and how you discovered Santa/the Easter Bunny/ the Tooth Fairy was not real
Your version of the life of a wierd/eccentric neighbor/relative
The real life of a nerdy romance author
What your dog/cat actually hears when you scold him

OK, I've run dry. Hope one of these sparks your creativity.

Erin Said:

What exactly is creative nonfiction?

We Answered:

Telling it in the form of a story would be one way to be creative about it.

Creative non fiction really means to say it in a language that is not merely a description of the facts. You could describe, say, a political rally like a newspaper story just telling the number of people, the ethnic composition of the crowd, the events as they happened, etc. This would be non creative. Or you could use metaphors, for example, to describe the mass of people as "poppies swaying in the wind" to show that they carried demonstration signs and that the crowd was agitated, etc. So, you describe things creatively, indirectly, altering perhaps the natural time progression of the events, using exaggeration to emphasize things... you name it, while still describing real events or facts. Hope this helps.

Brian Said:

Why is writing over the curriculum honored more than just "pure" writing?

We Answered:

Move to the city put a sign on your door that says "Poet", then invite people in to pay you so you can teach them the rules to pure writing.
Probably because "pure" writing is not something that can be taught in schools, being that it has no specific subject matter to teach.

Ruby Said:

what are good "creative nonfiction" autobios/memoirs?

We Answered:

Try 'Running With Scissors' by Augusten Burroughs and 'A Girl Named Zippy' by Haven Kimmel. They're both memoirs, but they are written more like a novel in Burroughs' case and a collection of short stories in Kimmel's, and it's not quite clear how much is fact and how much is artistic licence. They're great books though - very witty and thought-provoking too. Some of the humour is quite dark.