CREATIVE N O N F I CT I O N

DARREL A. FADRILLAN
LITERARY GENRE
C. DRAMA/THEATRE PLAY
• FICTION
PROSE D. FILM
A. SHORT STORY POETRY
B. NOVEL • NONFICTION
A. SHORT STORY
• SHORT STORY IS A CONCISE PROSE THAT IS SHORTER THAN A NOVEL WITH FEW CHARACTERS TO
PORTRAY. A FLASH FICTION COVERS FROM 50 TO 300 OR 750 WORDS AND A SHORT STORY MAY
RUN FROM 750 TO 1500 WORDS OR MORE BUT NOT MORE THAN 7,500 WORDS.
• “THE SHORT STORY IS ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE THE MOST EXQUISITE KIND OF PROSE FICTION,
REQUIRING PERFECT CRAFT, THE FORM IN WHICH THE SMALLEST SLIP CAN BRING THE WHOLE
CONTRACTION -- THE PLOT, THE CHARACTERS, NARRATION -- DOWN IN A CRASH”. (HAMPEL, 1989).
HENCE, THE SHORT STORY INVOLVES A SINGLE EFFECT IN ONE OR MORE IMPORTANT SCENES
MAKING IT ECONOMICAL, HAVING CONCISE NARRATION AND DELETING A COMPLICATED PLOT
(STORYLINE), CHARACTER IS INTRODUCED IN ACTION AND DRAMATIC FATE IS RARELY AND IS
COMPLETELY OBTAINED. BEING LIMITED IN SCOPE, A SHORT STORY IS EVALUATED TO GIVE A
COMPREHENSIVE OR SUBSTANTIAL DEALING OF ITS CHARACTERS AND SUBJECT. IT CAN BE SAID
THAT THE SHORT FICTION HAS A PARALLEL TIME AS LANGUAGE ITSELF. (HANSEN, 2015)
ELEMENTS OF SHORT STORY
• CHARACTER CAN BE A PERSON OR AN ANIMAL TAKING THE ACTION OF THE STORY .
• SETTING BRINGS THE READERS AS WHERE THE STORY HAPPENS WHICH IS
ILLUSTRATED THROUGH SCENERY, LANDSCAPE, BUILDING, WEATHER OR SEASON.
• PLOT LEADS TO THE CENTRAL CONFLICT BY BUILDING A SERIES OF EVENTS IN THE
CHARACTER'S LIFE.
• CONFLICT IS THE WRESTLE OF THE CHARACTER WITH ANOTHER CHARACTER, AGAINST
NATURE, FORCES, SOCIETY, OR ONESELF.
• THEME IS THE CENTRAL IDEA OR CONCEPT OF THE STORYLINE .
B. NOVEL
WRITTEN IN PROSE FORMAT AND PUBLISHED AS A BOOK, A NOVEL IS A LONG PIECE OF
CREATIVE FICTION THAT IS BELIEVED TO BE POSSESSING, DEMANDING, AND COMPLEX. IT
MAY FOLLOW THE FORMAT OF A SHORT STORY WITH ALL OF ITS IMAGINARY CHARACTERS
BUT THE DETAILS OF IT ARE EXPANDED AND ELABORATED. THE CONFLICTS MAY SPIRAL
ONE AFTER THE OTHER AND THUS, IT MAY TAKE A LOT OF TIME (YEARS) FOR THE WRITER
TO BE ABLE TO COMPLETE ITS CREATIVE WORK. BEST-SELLING NOVELS ARE
TRANSFORMED INTO FILMS AND PLACE. EXAMPLES OF FILIPINO NOVELS: THE DOG
EATERS BY JESSICA HAGEDORN.
C. DRAMA/THEATRE PLAY
IT IS BELIEVED “DRAMA IS LITERATURE EQUIPPED WITH ARMS, LEGS, TEARS, LAUGHS,
WHISPERS, SHOUTS, AND GESTURES THAT ARE ALIVE AND IMMEDIATE” (MEYER, 2006). ITS
ORIGINS CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE GREEK WITH THE WORD DRAN MEANING “TO DO”
OR “TO PERFORM”. THE SCRIPT WHICH SERVES AS THE TEXT OF THE PLAY MAY ONLY COME
TO EXISTENCE WHEN IT IS BEING PERFORMED BEFORE AN AUDIENCE. THE MAJORITY OF
DRAMA WRITERS (PLAYWRIGHTS) SEE THE WRITTEN WORD AS THE START OF A BIGGER
CREATION AND HOPE THAT THEIR SCRIPTS WILL BE SHOWN WORTH OF THE PRODUCTION
(MEYER, 2006).
GENRE OF DRAMA
1. COMEDY STEMS FROM KOMÉÓDÉ WHICH MEANS MERRYMAKINGS. IT IS BELIEVED
THAT GREEK COMEDY ORIGINATED FROM THE VILLAGE FESTIVITIES AND THE
WORSHIP OF DIONYSUS. THE EXISTENCE OF CHORUS TAKES PLACE BECAUSE OF THE
PRACTICE OF PLEASURE SEEKERS CAMOUFLAGED AS BIRDS, FROGS AND ALL SORTS OF
ANIMALS. ARISTOPHANES’ BOISTEROUS OLD COMEDY, THE TRANSITIONAL MIDDLE
COMEDY, AND THE NEW COMEDY OF MENANDER ARE THE PERIOD OF COMEDY PLAYS.
TODAY, IT IS BEING BLENDED WITH POETRY, PROFOUND MORAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE.
2. FARCE IS GROUNDED IN ANCIENT DRAMA, YET CRITICS LOOKED DOWN ON IT AS
VULGAR. IT INVOLVES TRAVESTY AND CIRCUS WHERE STILL DRAMATISTS AND
PERFORMERS CREATE INSTANT LAUGHTER THROUGH THEIR MECHANICAL ACTS.
MODERN FARCE DWELLS ON “WELL-MADE” DRAMA WHOSE COMPLEXITY IN PLOT,
DETAILED PRESENTATION, STRUCTURAL ACCURACY, AND DEPLOYMENT OF
COINCIDENCES HAVE ALL BEEN PUSHED INTO A COMIC EXTREMES(STRANGE, 2002).
3. SATIRE FROM THE LATIN TERM MEANS “MEDLEY” WITH ORIGINS IN COOKING. IT
EMPLOYS DIFFERENT COMIC EXAGGERATION TO MOCK HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN THE
CHANCE OF BEING TRANSFORMED OR CORRECTED. IRONY, PARODY, AND CARICATURE
ARE THE COMMON AVENUES OF SATIRE. THE FIRST SATIRICAL PLAYS WHERE THAT OF
ARISTOPHANES, AND THE PRE-DRAMATIC LAMPOONS OF THE GREEKS LAUGHING OUT
THE LOCAL FIGURES (CARLSON, 2002).
4. TRAGEDY PORTRAYS A SAD ENDING WHEREIN ARISTOTLE WAS THE FIRST TO PROVIDE
ITS DEFINITION IN POETICS AND THAT IT SHOULD BE “BY PITY AND TERROR” (LAW,
2011).
5. HISTORICAL DRAMA IS AS OLD AS THEATRE FEATURING HISTORICAL CHARACTERS
AND EVENTS. THE FIRST SURVIVING HISTORICAL PLAY IS THAT OF THE PERSIANS IN
472 BCE WHERE AESCHYLUS BATTLED THE GRECO-PERSIAN WAR WHICH HE FOUGHT
EARLIER FOR EIGHT YEARS (PALMER).
6. MUSICAL THEATRE COMBINES DIALOGUES, SONGS, AND DANCE NUMBERS AND
ACCREDITED TO BROADWAY FOR BLENDING VAUDEVILLE, REVUE, MELODRAMA, AS
WELL AS OPERETTA IN ITS PRESENTATION (LAW, 2011).
7. ABSURD PLAY DEMONSTRATES EXISTENTIALISM THAT REJECTS THE REALISTIC
CHARACTERS, SETTINGS, SITUATIONS, AND THEREBY PRESENTS MEANINGLESSNESS
AND ISOLATION OF HUMAN LIFE (CARLSON, 2002).
D. FILM

• THERE ARE MANY NAMES ATTACHED TO THE WORD FILMS, MANY CALL IT
MOVIES, MOTION PICTURES, THEATER FILMS, OR A RUN THROUGH OF STILL
IMAGES ON THE SCREEN. FILMS CAN BE TAKEN FROM THE WRITTEN
WORD OF A LARGE WORK SUCH AS NOVELS OR AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
• EXAMPLES OF FILIPINO FILMS: HENERAL LUNA, JOSE RIZAL, TINIMBANG
KA NGUNIT KULANG, HIMALA
POETRY
ARTISTIC, RHYTHMIC PATTERNS, AND THE ECONOMY OF WORDS EVALUATE
POETRY AS A FORM OF LITERARY ART. NUMEROUS POETS SUCH AS
WOODSWORTH LOOK AT IT AS, “THE SPONTANEOUS OVERFLOW OF
POWERFUL FEELINGS” SO DOES EMILY DICKINSON WHO BELIEVES THAT, “IF
I READ A BOOK AND IT MAKES MY BODY SO COLD NO FIRE EVER CAN WARM
ME, I KNOW THAT IS POETRY” WHILE DYLAN THOMAS THINKS THAT
“POETRY IS WHAT MAKES ME LAUGH OR CRY OR YAWN, WHAT MAKES MY
TOENAILS TWINKLE, WHAT MAKES ME WANT TO DO THIS OR THAT OR
NOTHING” (FLANAGAN, 2016)