ABSTRACT
How should we think about writing narratives? In this chapter, I use Lee Gutkind’s notion of the five key ideas central to the practice of creative nonfiction to discuss the basic thought processes associated with this style of writing for qualitative inquiry. 1 For beginning writers, this chapter provides an orientation to practical issues fundamental to crafting nonfiction narratives. For more experienced writers, it offers a refresher course in the rudiments of narrative representation and evocation, framing, reflexivity, and “thick description.” 2
