Fake Fiction?

I'm in a class called "Literature and Confession."
The course title is actually "Seminar in Literature," and it's offered every semester.
The topic changes. Last time I took the course it was "Literary Friendships."

I fell in love with the genre of Creative Non-fiction.
The book About a Mountain was the perfect example of the genre.
And then a professor came in and read a sort of autobiography, but it was in 3rd person, present tense.
The effect was astounding. I ended up writing my final paper in that style. It's incredible how vulnerable you can be when it sounds like you're writing about someone else.

Maybe someday I'll post an edited version of that story here.


For this class, we read J.M. Coetzee's Boyhood, which is a memoir written in 3rd person, present tense.
And we just finished Mark Richard's memoir House of Prayer No. 2, written in second person, present tense.

I'm crazy about both books.

And I have now responded to essay prompts for each of them.

"Choose an episode in J. M. Coetzee’s Boyhood that prompted a connection to your own childhood.  Then, write a narrative in the third person, present tense (like in Boyhood) telling that story.  Remember, you are the “he” or “she” in your autobiography; and remember to stick to the present tense.  The connection to Boyhood can be loose, and you need not make it overly obvious in your narrative; simply include a short paragraph before your narrative explaining the episode that inspired your story.  Focus on telling a good, autobiographical story in the third person, present tense (1000-2000 words)."

The one for Richard was pretty much the same.

My essays will be the next two posts.