“Neck” – an example of creative non-fiction
We have already brainstormed ideas about this emerging literary genre: creative nonfiction and the way it blurs boundaries between fact and fiction.
Now read Lee Gutkind’s explanation of the genre and the kinds of writing he would
consider to be ‘creative non-fiction’.
Gutkind is an American academic, writer and advocate for this genre. He created an
online magazine to encourage discussion and publication of creative non-fiction and this is
the definition he offers:
http://www.creativenonfiction.org/online-reading/what-creative-nonfiction
Write notes about what you find interesting/important about his definition.
Exploring “Neck” by Maggie O’Farrell more closely
One distinction between the personal and the public creative nonfiction is that the
memoir is the writer’s particular story, nobody else’s. The writer owns it. In contrast, the
public side of creative nonfiction is mostly somebody else’s story; anybody, potentially,
owns it, anybody who wants to go to the time and trouble to write about it. These
pieces, although narrative, focus on fact, leading to a bigger and more universal concept.
In every issue, Creative Nonfiction publishes “big idea/fact pieces”—creative nonfiction
about virtually any subject—from baseball gloves to brain surgery to dog walking to
immortality or pig roasting. There are no limits to the subject matter as long as it is
expressed in a story-oriented narrative way. These are stories almost anyone could
research and write.
Because they’re so personal, memoirs have a limited audience, while the public kind of
creative nonfiction—when authors write about something other than themselves—has a
larger audience. These “big idea/factual essays” are more sought after by editors and
agents and will more likely lead to publication. (Gutkind)
Thinking about the categories of creative non-fiction outlined by Gutkind, where might
O’Farrell’s piece fit?
Memoir? Journalism? Personal essay? All of these?
O’Farrell’s “Neck” recounts an intensely personal near-death experience that occurred
when the author was eighteen. The piece has many of the trademark features of memoir,
but seems to be doing something more than this. Her personal experience provokes the
reader to consider ideas about human nature, society and gender. This is why some
readers would consider this piece to be a ‘personal essay’ as well as a memoir. We’re
going to look more closely at the piece to consider what these ‘bigger and more universal
concepts’ might be.
Returning to the piece, highlight the moments when the author transitions from
recounting her own experience to prompting her reader to think about its broader
relevance. What ideas are you prompted to think about?
Select quotations from the piece that characterise this kind of broader reflection in the
grid below. The first one is done for you. At the bottom of the table, try to add at least
one more idea you feel the piece encouraged you to reflect on:
Shifting between the personal and the universal- some examples.
Broad/universal Idea
Quotation that marks the
transition from personal to
universal
Humans have secret and
transgressive interior lives
that they mask in public.
Often people’s public
façade is quite different to
their secret and private
selves.
“I learn from the narratives
inherent in possessions left
strewn around the
bedrooms, that people are
not always what they seem”
Language features that
reinforce the significance
of this idea
Although not directly
relevant to the narrative
about her encounter with
the man on her walk, the
author dwells on the
routines of her job in the
“a room steeped in sadness,
hotel/retreat and the things
in hope, in grief. Ovulation
she cleans and notices in
kits clutter their bathroom
the guests’ rooms.
shelves”
The rooms and the objects
in them are metaphors for
the contradictions between
our public and private
personae.
Her use of setting
foregrounds the dichotomy
between appearance and
reality.
It also foreshadows her
reflections on whether we
can ever really trust or
know someone from
appearances.
Humans can be aggressive
and cruel bullies- we have
irrational and violent
impulses
“He strangled someone.
With his binocular strap”
The use of the full stop in
between, is to show how
she is questioning the
detectives, even though she
knows that what she is
saying is true. She knows
that she was strangled. But
the full stop shows her
anger, and deep sadness
about the death.
Violence is a gendered
issue- women are taught
from an early age to be selfprotective and to expect
aggression from men
"I am careful to use strides
that are confident,
purposeful, but not
frightened. I am not
frightened: I say this to
myself, over the oceanic
roar of my pulse. Perhaps, I
think, I am free, perhaps I
have misread the situation.
Perhaps its perfectly normal
to lie in wait for young girls
on remote paths and then
let them go”
The use of perhaps, shows
the uncertainty. But it’s not
uncertainty as to whether
she will be killed, its
uncertainty as to whether
she is over reacting, or mis
reading the situation.
It is a difficult balancing act
for parents to protect their
children from potential
threats but not make them
fearful/ anxious
“because I cannot articulate
what dangers lie around
corners for you, around
twisting paths, around
boulders, in the tangles of
forest. Because you are six
years old. Because there are
people out there who want
to hurt you and you will
never know why. Because I
haven't yet worked out how
to explain these things to
you. But I will”
The continuous use of
‘because’ shows how
women, and society think of
abuse as an everyday
danger we have to face as a
society. It’s very sad that
this is the truth, but
‘because’ creates a never
ending list of roadblocks the
daughter will most likely
have to face in later life.
The structural ‘spine’ of the piece is the narrative she tells about her encounter with a
murderer. This has all the ingredients of an engaging narrative- tension/suspense,
characterisation, dialogue, a dramatic plot, conflict, a vivid setting and narrative closure
(even though the psychological impact of the event is ongoing).
Yet, you could also see this piece as a ‘personal essay’ as the writer draws on a personal
experience to explore larger ideas about human nature and society? What conclusions is
she positioning you to draw about women’s experiences of male violence? What about the
challenges of parenting?
“Neck” also conforms to the conventions of non-fiction memoir as it is written in the first
person, focuses on a true formative personal experience, weaves in vividly told vignettes/
anecdotes, uses interior monologue and reflects on the subjective nature of memory and
identity. At moments it is intimately confessional and makes the reader feel privileged to
be hearing the innermost secrets and fears of the writer (“I have, now I think about it,
only ever told one person, and that was the man I would eventually marry…”
Vignettes
In literature, a vignette (pronounced vin-yet) is a short scene that captures a single
moment or a defining detail about a character, idea, or other element of the story.
Vignettes are mostly descriptive; in fact, they often include little or no plot detail. They
are not stand-alone literary works, nor are they complete plots or narratives. Instead,
vignettes are small parts of a larger work, and can only exist as pieces of a whole story.
(Literary Terms. (2015, June 1). Retrieved November 3, 2015, from https://
literaryterms.net/)
Example of Vignette
Purpose and Impact
(quote opening line and
page number)
What does this moment add to the piece as a whole?
“On the path ahead,
stepping out from behind
a boulder, a man
appears”- page 3
It starts the story off, by immediately providing context and
setting. It plays with the readers emotions as it makes you
question why the man appears. Is he dangerous? Is he trying
to be friendly?
How does it affect you, as a reader, emotionally?
Motifs
Memoirs can meander through past memories and events (to reflect the way
our minds do this) and they often need a structural device to add cohesion.
O’Farrell uses a motif (a recurring image/phrase/symbol/significant object) of a
body part- the neck, signalled in the title. Note when her neck is first explicitly
referred to in the story and trace it to the end.
In what way might this body part symbolise and foreground the ideas she is
exploring? Write your response to this question
As the man put the binoculars around her neck, this is why she called it neck. The title is
only one word, which gives it enough power to make you question why it is called neck. It
is a peculiar word, and in my opinion, immediately made me think that the story would be
about something dark, bizarre, sinister and menacing.
Micro-writing
Re-read the opening to “Neck”, noting how O’Farrell uses setting to establish tension and
bring her memory to life for a reader. How does she simultaneously foreshadow important
ideas that will be explored later in the piece? Use her writing as a model for your own.
Reflect on a personal experience that is unique to you, but which also has broader
significance or relevance. Perhaps it reveals something interesting about human
nature, childhood, family life or society?
Using the features of creative non-fiction, try to blend elements of memoir, narrative
and personal essay in your writing style. Write the opening of your piece (approx. 200
words).
Optional: you may wish to experiment with the motif of a body part, as O’Farrell does as a
means of creating narrative cohesion.
September 2, 2007, my mum and my brother were roller blading with a family friend in
Centennial park. My mum fell and hit her head and was taken to hospital unconscious. She
was in a severe condition and had to go under surgery the following day to relieve
pressure on her brain. From this point onwards, she was in a medically induced coma. She
had a 5% chance of survival.
At the time, I was just four years old. I have almost no recollection of the event. In some
ways, I’m grateful for this. I know it would have been a traumatising time for my father
and brother. Having memories of my mum, lying in a hospital bed, at her most vulnerable,
would not be the most cheerful memories. Thankfully, she is still here today, and could
not be any more perfectly normal.
Looking at photos of me sitting at my mums side, it makes me realise how easily human
life can be taken away. It makes me realise how my life would have been completely
different if I didn’t still have her. It makes me realise how vulnerable humans are to
death. It makes me realise that although she survived, there was a 95% she wouldn’t, and
that so many people aren't as lucky as I was.
Reflection
Use the following prompts as you reflect on your writing (you don’t need to respond to
them all)
•
Reflect on the process of writing non-fiction and drawing on real, personal
experiences rather than imaginative story-telling. In what ways are the processes
of writing different and similar?
•
What narrative techniques did you find yourself using as you brought real, lived
experiences to life?
•
In what ways do you hope a reader would connect to your individual experience?
What aspects of your writing craft have drawn attention to these?
•
What aspects of the writer's craft do you feel you have successfully experimented
with in this piece and which do you feel are less effective? Provide quotations and
specific examples to explain your response.
Explain why you selected the experience you chose to write about and your
purpose as a writer.
•
•
What techniques did you use to shift the reader’s focus to (or foreshadow) a
broader/more universal idea?Reflect on the process of writing non-fiction and
drawing on real, personal experiences rather than imaginative story-telling. In
what ways are the processes of writing different and similar?
Interested in reading more creative non-fiction like this?
Try Helen Garner’s A Scrapbook, An Album- a personal essay about sibling relationships.
You can find it on the VO Creative Non-Fiction page
•
Reflect on the process of writing non-fiction and drawing on real, personal
experiences rather than imaginative story-telling. In what ways are the processes
of writing different and similar?
Reflection:
What narrative techniques did you find yourself using as you brought real, lived
experiences to life?
Towards the end of my response, I used a similar narrative technique used in Neck. This
was when she continuously used the word ‘Because’ when talking about all the dangers of
the world to her daughter. In a similar way, I said ‘it makes me realise’ four times to
emphasise how many realisations I had looking back at my mothers accident.
In what ways do you hope a reader would connect to your individual experience? What
aspects of your writing craft have drawn attention to these?
I do not look for sympathy from my experience. Instead, I hope it allows the reader to also
realise the same things I have realised. I hope they can connect by learning from my
experience, to hold family closer to heart, and take every day for granted. The experience
also allows readers to sympathise for families who have not been so lucky in these
unforeseen accidents, instead of sympathising for me.