Story non fiction
3580+ Best Creative Non Fiction Short Stories to Read Online for Free
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Discover weekly, the best short stories
Looking for a steady supply of creative nonfiction short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.
Sign up
Sign in with Google
Select a genre...AdventureAfrican AmericanAmericanAsian AmericanBedtimeBlackChristianChristmasComing of AgeContemporaryCreative NonfictionCrimeDesiDramaEast AsianFantasyFictionFriendshipFunnyGayHappyHigh SchoolHistorical FictionHolidayHorrorIndigenousInspirationalKidsLatinxLesbianLGBTQ+Middle SchoolMysteryPeople of ColorRomanceSadScience FictionSpeculativeSuspenseTeens & Young AdultThrillerTransgenderUrban FantasyWestern
Creative Nonfiction Short Stories – Page 31 of 239
“Her Special Day” by Crystal Glisson
I check over the stand and my camera. I always come early to a wedding to find the perfect spot for the bridal party’s pictures. The venue is at an apple orchard, with spring flowers, in full bloom. Photography started out as a hobby for me, but soon turned into a passion. I now run my own photography studio. For being a twenty-six-year-old male, I’d say, I’m doing pretty good. I will have to admit, the ladies do...
6 comments 6
Read story
“Arabian Convoy” by Chris Rohe
While rambling through some storage boxes in the basement one day, I came across a roll of film. The film was among past photos and other odds and ends, and I recognized that most of the stuff was from back in the 1990s. “I wonder what could be on this,” I asked myself aloud, though there was no one around. I rolled the film around in my hand. The yellow sticker on the backside of the film...
4 comments 4
Read story
“Click!” by Erin Belmares
WARNING (this story contains depictions of stalking, be wary before reading) Click! The water quickly rushing down to meet it’s mother earth was merciless and triumphant.
“Oh that’s a good line,” I said to myself. Click! I quickly jotted down my passing thought into my writing journal and then stared back at the rushing wa...
2 comments 2
Read story
“The Photographer” by Carmen Ella
The Photographer Little Mary's mother had laid the special dress out on her bed. It was a special dress for a special little girl on a special day. Little Mary was going to have her picture taken. The Photographer wasn't just any old random photographer. It was her dad. Little Mary's dad had just taken up photography as a hobby and wanted to practice his hobby by taking a picture o...
2 comments 2
Read story
“Third World Mona Lisa” by Andi Leitz
The photo took on a life of its own.
Much like the secret smile of da Vinci’s masterpiece, those piercing green eyes held a plethora of mysteries. The subject, a twelve-year-old girl wearing a red scarf around her head, was captured on 35 mm film, rather than oil on poplar. The film was sent off to a laboratory for processing and cleaning and finally delivered to the publication that owned all the rights to it, with n...
1 comment 1
Read story
“Among the Stars!” by Calvin Kirby
Among the Stars! By Cal Kirby I was a kind of nervous when I asked Jack Warden if I could take a photo of him. He said, “Sure.” And then I was a nervous wreck when I asked Al Pacino the same thing and he also agreed. Wow, two stars right there and I was among them! Back in 1979 when I was working part-time in film, TV and on stage, I got a call from my agent, at my regular day-time job, and was aske.
..
7 comments 7
Read story
“Family Photo” by Mary Laumbach
Knocking on the bathroom door which seemed to feel like eternity in my young mind. I was starting to panic, would I have enough time to get ready? A cold sweat started as I feverishly hit the door trying to prompt my older sister to hurry up. Finally, the creak of the door opening as she looks at me in disgust. "Are you wear that?", she retorts in mockery. It was a pretty blue dress my mom recently purchased. I was rarel...
0 comments 0
Read story
“The Image of You” by Cecilia L. Maddison
I’ll admit it. As you're the second child, there are fewer pictures of you than there are of your brother. Back when parenthood was still a novelty we took pictures of every moment and marked every milestone.
By the time you were born we were jaded second-time parents, and although we loved you every bit as much, your life has been less recorded. Many pictures we do have are of you both together; two beaming brothers in one frame.As I scroll back there are enough images to see how you changed year by year, and there...
38 comments 38
Read story
“Olivia” by David Silbert
Day 1 It came the day after she passed. A white parcel with no label. As I gazed at the package sitting on our living room table, I struggled to see why something—anything—had showed up for me at all. “It’s been here a few days,” my roommate called from the kitchen. “It looked a little suspicious, but we didn’t open it.” I touched it gingerly. Someone at UPS must...
0 comments 0
Read story
“Peace Lily” by Katie Koile
After paying for her Peace lily and walking it out to her car, Emily placed both hands on the wheel and let out a giant sigh.
She had made it. She had driven more than 1,800 miles over the course of three days. She was exhausted, but those three days had been nothing compared to the months she had spent in a tumultuous relationship, and the years she had spent battling alcoholism. Only two weeks prior had Emily d...
0 comments 0
Read story
“The Last Time We Spoke” by Amanda Blackwood
It had become routine for the two of us by then and neither of us thought much of it when I held up the phone and took that hilarious photo. The two of us were celebrating my birthday more than a month late while we sat alone in a Chili’s. A single candle stuck out of a brownie sundae. We were both making faces, he with his eyes crossed, and me with my tongue sticking out in the shape of a straw. We took a couple other p...
0 comments 0
Read story
“Mr Ishootdeerforfun” by Clara Cantwell
“Monday mooching with the magnolias, Tuesday time spent with the tulips, Wednesday walking down to the water lilies, Thursday thinking with…” A loud bang from the door signalled the end of my free time.
I quickly rolled up my weekly schedule and hid it inside the drawer in the desk. It wasn’t my desk, but I was sure the owner wasn’t going to find my paper. The owner was part of the summer camp that I attended over the ho...
3 comments 3
Read story
“My friend, Claude ” by Eunice Ross
Nearly every week, I visit Claude. Despite the changes in the world over the last two years, he remains stoic and indifferent. He looks exactly the same each week and doesn’t seem to age. His name reminds me of a renowned chef trained in classic French techniques or an Haute Couture designer who makes made-to-order clothes. I would spell his name with an accent mark like Claudé. I always wondered who was in charge of naming him and why didn’t they give him a friendlier name like Wally or Buddy. Claude is not a chef, a fashion de...
4 comments 4
Read story
“Gordon” by Michael Regan
Courage - the ability to do something that frightens one.
When you approach your three score and ten, if you are lucky, you can look back on days that make you smile and feel good about yourself. Not one of the big days, the births and weddings, the days that, hopefully, everyone has enjoyed. But, a day when you were involved in helping someone with a heroic act. You don’t have to be the person diving into a lake to rescue a c...
0 comments 0
Read story
“A Clearing, A Waking” by L. Malan
The fire crackled merrily in the distance, it's flames casting long shadows between the trees that reached until where Klaus was standing. Fiddling with something in the semi-dark, the teenager wasn't paying attention to his surroundings at all. Low voices washed over to him with the wind, talking of haunted huts and lost children. Every now and again gasps could be heard, or a faint whimper.Klaus had been here a lot in his life, and knew these woods like the back of his hand – if it hadn't been for his over-enthusiastic dad he wou.
..
4 comments 4
Read story
50 Great Narrative Nonfiction Books To Get On Your TBR List
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Narrative nonfiction—also known as creative nonfiction or literary nonfiction—is usually defined as nonfiction that uses the techniques and style of fiction (characters, plot, conflict, scene-setting) to tell a true story. Narrative nonfiction books can cover just about any topic, but if you pick one up you’re almost guaranteed to have a great reading experience.
This list a collection of 50 great narrative nonfiction books, although it easily could have been much longer. A few caveats: I tried not to include straight autobiographies or memoirs because I wanted to keep this list focused on books that highlight strong research/reporting along with narrative voice.
I also included just one book from any given author. If you’ve already read the book I’ve listed, most of these writers have an extensive backlist to explore. And, of course, this list of narrative nonfiction isn’t nearly comprehensive—that’d be basically impossible.
Science
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee—An in-depth biography of cancer.
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande—Medicine, life, and choices about how we die.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot—History of the most prolific cells in science.
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly—African American female mathematicians and the race to space.
Packing for Mars by Mary Roach—The strange science used to get astronauts ready for space.
Leaving Orbit by Margaret Lazarus Dean—“Notes from the last days of American spaceflight”
Annals of the Former World by John McPhee—Four books collected into one giant work on the geological history of North America.
The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson—“How fishermen and scientists are unraveling the mysteries of our favorite crustacean.”
Global Issues
Night Draws Near by Anthony Shadid—A portrait of Iraqi citizens “weathering the unexpected impact of America’s invasion and occupation.”
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo—Life in a Mumbai slum.
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder—One doctor’s work bringing medical care to those most in need.
Without You, There Is No Us by Suki Kim—A reporter goes inside a school for the sons of North Korea’s elite.
Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick—North Korean defectors tell what it’s like inside the country.
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi—Reading American classics in revolutionary Iran.
The Secretary by Kim Ghattas—An inside account of Hillary Clinton’s term as Secretary of State by a traveling journalist.
The Lonely War by Nazila Fathi—An Iranian journalist’s account of the struggle for reform in modern Iran.
History
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson—The great migration of African Americans to northern cities, and the impact it has today.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand—World War II tale of survival after being shot down over the Pacific Ocean.
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown—Olympic rowing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (this book is amazing!).
Sin in the Second City by Karen Abbott—Stories from America’s favorite Victorian-era brothel and the culture war it inspired.
Eighty Days by Matthew Goodman—Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland race around the world in 1889.
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson—America’s ambassador to Germany, and his headstrong daughter, in the lead up to World War II.
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann—A conspiracy against the Osage tribe, and the birth of the FBI.
The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell—The Puritans and their strange journey to found America
Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel—A look at the relationship between Galileo and his oldest daughter, a nun named Maria Celeste.
The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport—A look at the fall of the Romanov family, focusing specifically on the lives of Nicholas and Alexandra’s four daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia.
City of Light, City of Poison by Holly Tucker—An account of Paris’s first police chief and a poisonous murder epidemic in the late 1600s.
Narrative Nonfiction Classics
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote—The original true crime nonfiction novel.
The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean—Obsession and rare flowers in the Florida Everglades.
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer—The story of a harrowing, deadly climb on Mount Everest.
Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc—“Love, drugs, trouble, and coming of age in the Bronx.”
Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bissinger—The big business of high school football in Texas.
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion—Essays on a feminist journalist’s experiences in California in the 1960s.
Newjack by Ted Conover—A journalist goes undercover as a prison officer in Sing Sing to better understand the penal system.
The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi—Historical true crime on Italy’s Jack the Ripper, who killed between 1968 and 1985.
The Blind Side by Michael Lewis—A sports biography on one man’s journey to the NFL and the evolution of the game.
Social Issues
Does Jesus Really Love Me? by Jeffrey Chu—A gay Christian looks for God in America.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman—Cultural barriers in life and medicine (so good!).
Evicted by Matthew Desmond—Poverty, profits and the eviction crisis in America.
Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh—A sociologist spend a decade in Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes to better understand the lives of the urban poor.
Homicide by David Simon—A look at one year spent with homicide detectives in Baltimore.
Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge—A journalist puts a human face on gun violence by writing about the 10 teenagers killed by guns on a single day in America.
Methland by Nick Reding—A look at the impact of meth on small towns, based on four years of reporting in an agricultural town in Iowa.
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts—The first and perhaps most comprehensive look at the AIDS crisis.
Contemporary Reporting
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett—“The true story of a thief, a detective, and a world of literary obsession.”
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer—A group of librarians banded together to pull of a literary heist to save precious Arabic texts from Al Qaeda.
Moby Duck by Donovan Hohn—“The true story of 28,800 bath toys lost at sea and of the beachcombers, oceanographers, environmentalists and fools, including the author, who went in search of them.”
Columbine by Dave Cullen—The definitive account of the Columbine shooting.
Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink—Life and death and medical malpractice at a hospital ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Tribe by Sebastian Junger—Learning about loyalty and belonging from tribal societies.
If you enjoyed this list and want more narrative nonfiction content, check out our True Story newsletter. Sign up here!
Why read fiction?
Every child at least once wondered: why do you need to read at all? And most importantly - why is fiction included in the school curriculum? What can we say, if many adults to this day consider reading fiction books a waste of time. Instead of heading in the clouds, traveling through fictional worlds, they advise reading more non-fiction and gaining knowledge about the real world.
In fact, both fans of science pop and lovers of the classics can sleep peacefully, as it has been scientifically proven that reading any book helps to develop. After all, books not only give us new information, but also teach us to think. And the last factor is perhaps the most important. Getting knowledge from books is not as difficult as being able to analyze them.
Any information must be evaluated from different points of view, weighed, compared with personal experience and only then assimilated.
Photo by Fabiola Peñalba on Unsplash
By reading, we learn to reason, predict and think more voluminously. And while non-fiction gives us the bare but proven facts, fiction books teach us to fantasize, help build vocabulary, develop empathy and cognitive functions. In order not to be unfounded, in the following 5 paragraphs we will analyze in detail all the advantages of fiction.
1. Creative thinking
New ideas, stories, points of view - all this helps to pump creativity. And it is fiction that allows you to cover any topic from a variety of points of view. We look at what is happening through the eyes of the hero, imagining what he experiences and what he thinks. Sometimes it is very useful to look at the world through the prism of the beliefs and views of another person. So we learn to think broader and in categories unusual for us.
The child simply needs to develop his imagination so that later years later he does not have problems finding non-standard solutions and moves. nine0003
What if not the poetry of the absurd will help give impetus to the birth of the most extraordinary and amazing solutions? Convince yourself of its strength together with the collection of nonsense poems by Mikhail Lukashevich "Crazy Birds" .
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
2. Emotional intelligence
In the process of reading, we are so deeply immersed in the plot that we begin to experience literally everything the same as the heroes of the work. This allows you to expand the emotional range and dive deeper into the world of human experiences. Including in popular science literature, one can find biographies that are very emotionally strong and journalistic essays that take the soul. The only difference is that in fiction, the main role is played not by the result, but by the process.
Putting yourself in the place of the protagonist is sometimes also useful in that you can better understand your own emotions. nine0003
So, the protagonist of the book Zuli Stadnik "Kindergarten on Wheels" , a small excavator Klusha, with his personal example will help the kid deal with any difficult situations in his first kindergarten team.
3. Vocabulary
Memorizing new words and expressions, we make our speech richer. The lexical palette in fiction is much more diverse than in non-fiction. With it, we learn not only to build grammatically correct sentences, but also quickly learn the rules of word compatibility and various artistic techniques. The goal of the authors of scientific texts is to convey the essence, the goal of the authors of fiction books is to captivate. Therefore, if you want your child to have no problems speaking in public, and his vocabulary to be rich, be sure to let him read fiction. nine0003
A phantasmagoric story about the space adventures of the boy Fedya called "Carousel King" , written by the master of rhythmic prose Marina Taranenko , will help the child develop speech skills and the basics of versification.
Photo by David Iskander on Unsplash
4. Cultural development
A good art book is like an artist's canvas. Every book, like every painting, has its own story. Books help us get to know different cultures, peoples and their traditions. As if in a painting, we are watching distant worlds and historical epochs unfold before us. Let the characters be fictional, the main thing is that their thoughts, feelings and desires are real. nine0003
You can start with the culture of your country. An excellent help for kids and their parents in this matter will be the collection "Russian Folk Riddles in Pictures" Zina Surova .
5. Model of consciousness
A model of consciousness is a complex of knowledge that helps to understand the mental state of another person. Plunging into the stories of other people, we imperceptibly supplement our understanding of the way they think. A developed model of consciousness helps us to better understand the feelings of other people, to anticipate their words and thoughts.
In fiction books, we are given psychological portraits of different types of personalities, this allows us to learn about their motivation and apply this knowledge in real life. Thanks to this approach, a child who reads fiction socializes faster and more painlessly, becomes sociable and open. nine0003
You will learn about how even the most dissimilar creatures can make friends, getting to know each other better, in the story by Victoria Toponogova “Hold on, kurlik!” .
We remind you that until May 31 you can purchase any of these, as well as all other books of the publisher, with a 15% discount using the promo code KNIGOMAI!
8 reasons to read more fiction
October 18, 2021 Books nine0003
Research shows that fictional stories are better for the brain than real ones.
1. Developed empathy
Reading fiction develops empathy and helps you put yourself in the place of another. This is due to the fact that the brain processes read and real information in the same way.
The left temporal lobe, which is responsible for the perception of language, makes the brain think that it is doing what the hero of the story is actually doing. This phenomenon is known as "embodied knowledge". Reading, we literally move into the body of the character. nine0003
Thanks to fiction, we stop focusing on ourselves and begin to understand the behavior and motivation of others.
2. Freedom from stereotypes
Literature demonstrates the laws by which society operates and increases tolerance for minorities and the oppressed.
In one study, fifth graders read excerpts from Harry Potter. The teacher helped them analyze the text, which traced the loyal position of Harry Potter towards Mudbloods - students born into Muggle families. After three lessons, the children became more tolerant of immigrants, homosexuals and refugees. nine0003
3. Reconciliation with uncertainty
Stability is a myth, but this is of little concern to connoisseurs of novels.
The study showed that people who read fictional stories experience less need for cognitive certainty than those who read non-fiction.
In an experiment, 100 students from the University of Toronto read one of eight stories or one of eight essays. After that, everyone filled out a questionnaire that assessed the level of their emotional need for certainty and stability. The results showed that participants who read the stories were more comfortable with chaos and instability. This means that they think more broadly and approach problem solving creatively. nine0003
4. Rich imagination and imaginative thinking
“The author writes only half of the book. The other half is written by the reader,” said the classic of English literature, Joseph Conrad. A good writer really does not tell everything, but only the most necessary, forcing the reader to use his imagination. The appearance and past of the characters, the setting, the smells, the timbre of the voice - as directors filming a film adaptation, we often think of the details on our own.
If it's hard for you to fantasize, take up fiction. She will stir your imagination. nine0003
5. Healthy sleep and strong nerves
Departure into a fictional reality is useful for everyone who is under stress, but a book is the most effective remedy. Studies show that just six minutes of reading lowers your heart rate and relaxes your muscles by 68%. By comparison, listening to music is 61% calmer, walking is 42% calmer, and playing a video game is 21%.
Reading is the perfect activity before bed. It distracts, relaxes and helps you fall asleep.
6. Solid memory and logic
To remember all the characters of "War and Peace" and understand the twists and turns of the plot, you need not only strong nerves, but also a developed memory and logic. As you make your way through a complex romance, you prolong the life of your brain.
Avid readers have been shown to be 32% less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease in old age.
The longer the piece you choose, the better your brain works.
7. Rich vocabulary
Research results show a direct relationship between the amount of fiction read and vocabulary. The table shows the results of a survey of 30-year-old readers. nine0129
If you want to speak beautifully, reader literature. So you will learn how to better formulate thoughts and tell stories, get rid of formulaic phrases in speech and writing.
8. New friends and discoveries
Fiction introduces us to people and takes us on adventures that we lack in real life. The characters become our friends, models of behavior and advisers. We argue with them, hate and support. In doing so, we experience real emotions. Reading literature, we do not just move away from reality, but gain new experience. nine0003
Journalist and producer Lisa Boo spoke at TED about how books helped her survive the crisis and open up new possibilities.
