"Compare and Contrast"

... that's what your English instructor told you when she wanted you to write a certain type of essay. I thought it might be interesting to compare the tongue-in-cheek, but Oh-so-accurate, list of do's and don't's posted on Slate for those interested in writing a memoir to the guidelines from some of the premier publications of the genre of creative nonfiction.

Slate says, among other things ...

• Specificity is your enemy.
• Write what you know—but no one else does.
• Be a victim.
• Don't leave witnesses.
• Beware of blurbs.
• When cornered, confess.

Compare that to the guidelines for submission to Creative Nonfiction Magazine ...

• Strong reportage
• Well-written prose, rich with detail and a distinctive voice.
• An informational quality or instructive element that offers the reader something to learn (an idea, concept or collection of facts, strengthened with insight, reflection and interpretation.)
• A compelling, focused, sustained narrative that is well-structured, makes sense and conveys meaning.

Or Fourth Genre ...

• Published biannually by the Michigan State University Press, Fourth Genre is a literary journal that explores the boundaries of contemporary creative/literary nonfiction. We welcome personal essays—including nature, environmental, and travel essays—memoirs, personal critical essays, and literary journalism of up to 8000 words.

Or The Georgia Review ...

• Nonfiction: We are seeking creative personal essays and informed, thesis-oriented essays that view their subjects against a broad perspective--provocative work that can engage both the intelligent general reader and the specialist. For the most part we are not interested in scholarly articles.

Or AGNI ...

• Send no more than one story, one essay, or five poems at a time. We have no word limits, but generally the longer a piece is, the better it needs to be to justify taking up so much space in the magazine. We will consider novel excerpts provided that they are cohesive enough to stand alone.

Or Granta ...

• The main guideline for submitting work to Granta is simply to read the magazine thoroughly and ask yourself honestly if you feel your piece meets our criteria. We receive many submissions every day, many of which are completely unsuitable for Granta (however well written).

Here is a list of things that Granta does not publish:

• Academic essays, or essays about writers.
• Book reviews.
• Straight reporting or feature articles whose primary interest is immediate, i.e., stories whose relevancy will not last the life span of the magazine. We have a three-month lead between going to press and being published. The pieces we publish should outlast that period by several years (as the issues themselves do).
• Genre fiction. That means: no Romance, Crime, Science Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Historical.
• Poetry.
• Travel writing without a story. Then we went to X and a funny thing happened, then we went to Y and another funny thing happened, etc. There should be a narrative focus, a point, a reason for you to tell us the story.

Or The Threepenny Review ...

• All articles should be double-spaced (except poetry, which can be single-spaced or double-spaced). Critical articles should be about 1500 to 3000 words, stories and memoirs 4000 words or less, and poetry 100 lines or less. Exceptions are possible.