The first published work of creative nonfiction was Truman Capote's In Cold Blood.
Today's CNF writers are told they must involve themselves in the story—that they must have a presence.
Why? Capote's not a voice in In Cold Blood. Where did this author-must-be-present notion come from?
While it can work if it's done well, usually I want to read CNF because of the facts, not the author. And too frequently an opening that talks in the first person, I think, puts the reader off. After all, don't we come to nonfiction wanting something approaching objectivity? I don't really want the story filtered first through the author's lens, and while—yes—any written item is inevitably filtered through the author's lens, I think putting the author into CNF vindicates the personalisation of what should be an attempt at objectivity.
No?
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