Adventures in the 4th Genre: Creative Nonfiction Essays

Abstract

Adventures in the 4th Genre: Creative Nonfiction Essays examines what it means to be a writer and how our surroundings provide a sense of safety. The first of two essays, "Second Floor Lounge" provides an anthropological description of the safe haven created within the author's college library, and her personal relationship to writing and its constant evolution throughout her life. In the second essay, "Milestones", the role of her surroundings and its ability to impart a sense of safety provides the backdrop as she tackles an issue that has been prevalent throughout her entire life—violence in schools and young men with a desire and motive to kill strangers. Throughout both essays, the author strives to fit her work into the greater body of writing that exists, and comes to the realization that good prose does not have to be completely new or innovative. Rather, it requires one to find ways to craft the millions of ideas that came before in creative ways.