So, in an attempt to try to understand more about this complex style of writing, i headed to my bookshelf containing many journalism textbooks i have accumulated over these past years.

An interesting book i found collecting dust, was by David E. Sumer & Holly G. Miller, titled ‘Feature & Magazine Writing’. Here is a little info on literary non-fiction:

  • It is a term that eventually replaced ‘New Journalism’. Both refer to the use of fiction techniques in non-fiction reporting.
  • New Journalism is a writing genre that developed during the 1960’s, later called ‘literary non-fiction’. Its distinguishing characteristics is the use of fiction techniques – especially narrative, dialogue, description and scene-by-scene reporting: in non-fiction reporting.

Stephen Tanner’s book, ‘Journalism – Investigation & Research’ claims that Literary Journalism is often clouded by controversy regarding the accuracy and truthfulness of the piece. The book goes on to explain that Literary Journalism is often associated with the problem of accuracy and objectivity. As a writer of literary journalism, we must think about how we are portraying the topic of the piece and understand the inherent bias that is delivered through the way we write about the topic. The book outlines that it is impossible to be entirely objective – the facts are there are the reader is being informed, however their is a ‘slant’ to the story, delivered by words that are chosen to describe certain situations, adjectives and the underlying message being sent to the readers.

An online book i discovered during my researching, titled ‘Literary Journalism’, by Norman Sims & Mark Kramer outlined the characteristics of literary journalism to be:

  • immersion reporting
  • accuracy
  • symbolic representation
  • complicated structures
  • voice

However, they explained that in order to create a true masterpiece of literary journalism, it is essential that you build a bond of trust with the subjects of your feature. You need to enable people to forget that you’re a reporter, and for them to feel comfortable to say things to you. This is the real way to be able to create a story that is personal and can draw in the reader to the situation and story that is unfolding as they read.