Lately, we’ve been hearing a lot about narrative non-fiction, longform journalism, or literary non-fiction, call it what you will. But what is it, apart from being “not fiction”? In essence, you might say it’s the use of literary forms to present the truth. But these forms, in many cases, were developed for the service of fiction. Take dialogues, or interior monologues. The temptation to take liberty with one’s material often proves too strong. Lee Gutkind’s Three R’s of Narrative Nonfiction provides a timely reminder of some fundamental principles.