Interested in eclectic, discursive autobiography and memoir writing

I think the why is pretty easy to answer: fiction and poetry are popularly seen as more “creative” than non-fiction. There’s a romantic, glamorous image of the great author plucking ideas from the air, the poet distilling language to its beautiful essence, that non-fiction just doesn’t seem to exude. People write fiction and poetry as a hobby to “express themselves.” They dream of quitting their boring job and becoming a bestselling novelist. Most people probably believe that their own lives and beliefs aren’t interesting enough to write about.

Of course, a lot of that perception is wrong—there’s plenty of room for creativity in non-fiction, and even the most mundane life can contain great stories, if you know how to tell them. And there are people telling their stories and writing those thought-provoking essays, though they’re likely far fewer than the aspiring novelists, which is why you’re having trouble finding them.

So, a suggestion. I may be wrong, but you seem to focusing on book-length works of nonfiction (at least, those are the titles you’ve mentioned as inspirations). Have you looked into short-form works? Most literary magazines consider memoir and essays under the umbrella term “Creative Nonfiction (CNF)”, and there may be more of a community built around short works than longer pieces. Try looking into magazines and journals that focus on CNF: check out their social media feeds, look for workshops and events they sponsor, maybe contact some of the authors they run for advice. Hell, maybe even try the staff; they’re bound to be busy, but you might find someone willing to take some time to steer you in the right direction. I’m most familiar with The Sun, as they published my only nonfiction piece (a 200-word flash memoir that started out as a prose poem), and they were very supportive of a total noob like me. Maybe you’ll find what you’re looking for.

Good luck, and happy writing!

 

Pick a famous, well established non-fiction writer and ask them.
I read non fiction (a wide array from science, to historical, memoirs, etc), but i dont write it so ive never cared enough to reach out to authors for personal growth. I have reached out to fiction writers though, for advise and questions about how they got started. They responded. I got a nice long email response from a fantasy writer with a 4 book series out.
On my professional time, i've interviewed authors and they always leave contact information for the audience to get in touch with them.

Go to their websites, find their contact information and email. Or go to their speaking events (its more accessible now since they've started doing virtual tours)
What could it hurt?

 

Also, heres a link to CNF: Connect and Learn, a writing and education community that i stumbled upon when searching for something else entirely

 

The people I know who write non-fiction all fall into two camps. Not that there are only these two camps, but that of the limited number of non-fiction writers I know they can all be categorised like this:

1. At the low end: Copy writers who aren't so much interested in writing better copy so much as copy writing as a means to getting in to 'media', or to writing the next Great American Novel, or just what they could get.

2. At the higher paid or at least more highly respected end: People who write serious and oft cited work for general publication, but as output for their main interests, and not even necessarily the main output. For example an Egyptologist who is fascinated with the parallels between the Aten cult and the Muslim Brotherhood (I made that up) and lectures and writes papers and goes to conferences. To him the book is perfunctory. He is pleased by it because it carries his work. The sentences are workman like. Some of the people I know who wrote books like this did so as a *favour* for their colleagues and students, or that's how they saw it. It is not their life so they don't want to spend much time with other writers, but rather with other people in their field (a group unlikely to be primarily composed of writers who write for the love and art of it).

So maybe that's why the non-fiction community is harder to come across, if so many of its members aren't really that interested in the medium itself, whilst the fiction community is almost universally fascinated with the medium itself.

EDIT: I appreciate this is very very slightly off topic as the thread is primarily about memoirs and biographies, whereas my experience is with those in technical fields and journalism.