Writing Narrative Non-Fiction (9921.1)

Required texts

Required texts and readings:

You will benefit from either buying or borrowing a library copy of Matthew Ricketson and Caroline Graham's Writing Feature Stories: How to research and write articles -- from listicles to longform. This book offers practical methods for creating stories, with many lessons, exercises and ideas that are likely to be helpful. Required readings for each week may be found on the unit's Moodle page site.

Recommended texts:

There is a broad range of books, journal articles and media coverage about non-fiction writing in the university's library, which has a good collection of references about the field. Some are how-to guides that offer alternative perspectives to the prescribed and recommended texts. There are also publications that survey the field or discuss issues arising in its practice. Among the books listed below are anthologies that contain examples of longform journalism and narrative non-fiction, giving you an opportunity to sample the breadth of writing in the genre.

Applegate, E. (Ed.). (1996). Literary journalism: A biographical dictionary of writers and editors. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Bak, J.S. & Reynolds, B. (2011). Literary journalism across the globe. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.

Boynton, R.S. (2005). The new new journalism: Conversations with America's best nonfiction writers on their craft. New York: Vintage Books.

Cheney, T. (1991). Writing creative nonfiction. California: Ten Speed Press.

Connery, T. (Ed.). (1992). A sourcebook of American literary journalism: Representative writers in an emerging genre. New York: Greenwood.

Cords, S. S. (2009). The inside scoop: A guide to nonfiction investigative writing and exposés. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.

Eisenhuth, S. & McDonald, W. (Eds.). (2007). The writer's reader: Understanding journalism and non-fiction. Cambridge, Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

Funder, A. (2002). Stasiland. Melbourne: Text Publishing.

Glass, I. (Ed.). (2007). The new kings of nonfiction. New York: Riverhead Press.

Gutkind, L. (2005). In fact: The best of creative nonfiction. New York: W.W. Norton.

Gutkind, L. (2008). Keep it real: Everything you need to know about researching and writing creative non-fiction. New York: W.W. Norton.

Harrington, W. (Ed.). (1997). Intimate journalism: The art and craft of reporting everyday life. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Harrington, W. & Sager, M. (Eds.). (2012). Next wave: America's new generation of great literary journalists. United States: The Sager Group.

Hart, J. (2006). A writer's coach: An editor's guide to works that work. New York: Pantheon Books.

Hart, J. (2011). Storycraft: The complete guide to writing narrative nonfiction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Hollowell, J. (1977). Fact and fiction: The new journalism and the nonfiction novel. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Keeble, R. L. & Wheeler, S. (Eds.). (2007). The journalistic imagination: Literary journalists from Defoe to Capote and Carter. London: Routledge.

Keeble, R. L. & Tulloch, J. (Eds.). (2014). Global literary journalism. New York: Peter Lang.

Kerrane, K & Yagoda, B. (Eds.). (1998). The art of fact: A historical anthology of literary journalism. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Kroeger, B. (2012). Undercover reporting: The truth about deception. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press.

Lazar, David. (Ed.). (2008). Truth in nonfiction: Essays. Iowa: University of Iowa Press.

Perl, S. & Schwartz, M. (2006). Writing true: The art and craft of creative nonfiction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Ricketson, M. (2014). Telling true stories: Navigating the challenges of writing narrative non-fiction. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Ricketson, M. & Graham, C. (2017). Writing feature stories: How to research and write articles – from listicles to longform (2nd ed.). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Sims, N. (2008). True stories: A century of literary journalism. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press.

Tanner, S. L., Kasinger, M., & Richardson, N. (2012). Feature writing: Telling the story (2nd ed.). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Underwood, D. (2008). Journalism and the novel: Truth and fiction, 1700-2000. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Weinberg, S. (1992). Telling the untold story: How investigative reporters are changing the craft of biography. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.

Weingarten, M. (2006). The gang that wouldn't write straight: Wolfe, Thompson, Didion, and the new journalism revolution. New York: Crown Publishers.

Wheeler, S. (2009). Feature writing for journalists. New York: Routledge.

Zinsser, W. K. (2006). On writing well: The classic guide to writing nonfiction (7th ed.). New York: Harper Collins.

Submission of assessment items

Special assessment requirements

There are no special assessment requirements for this unit.

Referencing in assignments and Ethical issues

 Referencing requirements:

As noted in the assessment guidelines, you are expected to acknowledge your sources when you submit your work. Although the layout and system of referencing is up to you (you can use Harvard, Chicago, APA, hyperlinks, footnotes, endnotes, etc.), you must acknowledge your source material in your work.

Ethical Issues:

Journalists and writers have great freedom in their work, but also clear constraints on what they may write and present to others. Consequently, while you may write any story that engages you, in the voice, from the perspective, and using the characterisation that you choose, you must also comply with the University of Canberra’s Regulation of Student Conduct rules (which requires that students not engage in a course of behaviour offensive to a university authority, board or committee, to an officer or employee of the university, or to another student). You and your work must also comply with Australian law, specifically the Office of Film and Literature Classification Code. This code prohibits the publication/dissemination of material that ‘appears to purposefully debase or abuse for the enjoyment of readers/viewers, and which lacks moral, artistic or other values to the extent that they offend against generally accepted standards of morality, decency and propriety’. You should also keep in mind the potential for legal issues (of defamation, for example) that may arise when writing about other people. 

Students doing journalistic work for their assessment items should be aware that they need to abide by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance’s code of ethics for journalists, which you have already been learnt about in earlier units, and which can be found here: http://www.alliance.org.au/code-of-ethics.html.

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Participation requirements

In order to be able to effectively pass this unit, students should attend the tutorials, listen to lectures, complete readings, and complete their assessment to the best of their ability. Attendance at tutorials is recommended: the peer-to-peer interaction and critique is an integral part of the unit's learning outcomes and an efficient way to garner the feedback necessary for producing good writing. While online forums on Moodle will be available for students to post and comment on each other's work, it is incumbent on all students to ensure they receive appropriate feedback. Students who choose to not attend tutorials cannot rely on tutors to provide this outside of class. 

Required IT skills

None.

In-unit costs

None.

Work placement, internships or practicums

None.

Additional information

None.

• Semester 2, 2018, On-campus, UC - Canberra, Bruce (178324)
• Semester 2, 2017, On-campus, UC - Canberra, Bruce (164699)
• Semester 2, 2016, On-campus, UC - Canberra, Bruce (149418)