Letter to a First-Time Peace Corps Writer

A Peace Corps literary lion on what’s in a story

No matter who you are, sitting down to a blank page to try and tell the story of your life can be daunting. But I’m here to reassure you

 that, as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, you have a great story to tell. The key question is where to start. 

Jacques Barzun, an accomplished writer and historian who taught at Columbia University, wrote that to become a writer you have to convince yourself that you are working in clay, not marble—on paper, not eternal bronze—so let that first sentence be as stupid as it wishes. Just put it down, then another. Your whole first paragraph or first page may have to be guillotined after your piece is finished, but there can be no second paragraph (which contains your true beginning) until you have a first.

From there, all you have to do is mine your own experiences. Begin your book with a compelling first impression of your life as a Volunteer—your first day overseas, your first egregious mistake—and use that anecdote to slide into your story. Write about your daily experiences, the surprises you had, and what you know now that you didn’t know in those first days and weeks abroad. Be honest about your mistakes, the funny and embarrassing ones, the ones you learned from. Write about the help you gave to others, and the people you came to know and care about. 

Whatever you do, remember to detail your emotions, your feelings, because this is what readers connect with. You are writing creative nonfiction, also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction, a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to tell factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction is different from other nonfiction, such as academic or technical writing, or journalism, all of which are also rooted in accurate facts but are not written to entertain. 

The goal is to make nonfiction stories read like fiction so that your readers are as enthralled by fact as they are by fantasy. 

The word “creative” has been criticized in this context because some people maintain that being creative means pretending or exaggerating, or making up facts and embellishing details. This is completely incorrect. It is possible to be honest and straightforward and brilliant and creative at the same time. 

“Creative” doesn’t mean inventing what didn’t happen, or reporting and describing what wasn’t there. It doesn’t mean that the writer has a license to lie. The cardinal rule is clear, and cannot be violated. This is the pledge the writer makes to the reader—the maxim we live by, the anchor of creative nonfiction: “You can’t make this stuff up!” 

What you have to realize is that your story is the Peace Corps story. Generations from now, when historians ask, “What was Peace Corps?” they will turn to what you wrote in your book. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, you have a corner on American history. Tell your story so future generations will see how you, as a PCV, made a difference in the world. 

John Coyne (Ethiopia 1962–64) is the author of 28 books and, with Marian Haley Beil (Ethiopia 1962–64), a founder of Peace Corps Worldwide.