Why Taboo Topics Can Make the Best Creative Nonfiction

by Katie Bannon

For many of us, writing about a stigmatized topic like mental illness, sex, and violence can seem akin to stripping in public. We might feel embarrassed, afraid, and terribly exposed. But here’s the rub: It’s often our most vulnerable stories that read as the most human, engaging readers and making them see the world in a new way.

The first time I shared my own story, about a hair pulling disorder I kept secret for 20 years, I expected readers to be shocked, maybe even o...