|
| |
|
Workshop Descriptions & Instructors
|
Hope Edelman Creative Creative Nonfiction: Experiments in Form Advanced Memoir: In the Muddle of the Middle
Creative Creative Nonfiction: Experiments in Form Anyone call tell a story straight through from A to Z. It’s often more interesting for readers, however—and more fun for writers—when it’s told from Z to A. Or when it reads like a series of puzzle pieces, or an instruction manual, or a list. This class is for nonfiction writers of all levels who want to stretch their creativity and have fun with prose. Short writing exercises on Saturday will encourage students to think about structure and content in entirely new ways. We’ll also look at writings by published authors to explore methods of structural subversion and discuss the effects they have on us as readers. Saturday evening will offer time for writing a more developed piece to be shared in class on Sunday. Some class time will be devoted to a discussion of markets for these types of essays, but most of our time will be spent writing and reading our own work. Advanced Memoir: In the Muddle of the Middle Writing is quite possibly the most solitary, most introspective, and most self-doubting profession that exists. There comes a point in every memoirist’s experience when he or she looks at the stack of pages produced in isolation and thinks, “Huh? Will anyone really want to read this?” Hopefully, yes, provided you present your story as thoughtful, entertaining, and urgent. This advanced memoir class is for authors who are at least a few chapters into a book and need writerly support and an injection of confidence to keep the pages coming. Participants will submit up to twenty pages of prose in advance of the workshop, to be carefully and respectfully critiqued during our week. As we discuss each student’s submission, and hear about the larger story he or she wants to tell, we’ll learn what questions to ask ourselves as writers and discuss what makes a memoir “work.” In addition, half-hour lectures Monday through Friday will introduce you to fundamental components of memoir such as universality, persona, and character arcs as they apply to each day’s submissions. By the end of the week, you should have a solid blueprint for what to keep in your memoir, what to change, and how to proceed. Biography
|
|
Site
Map | Welcome | Workshops
by Session Date | Workshops
by Instructor Sponsored by the Division of Continuing Education Last updated on February 10, 2009 |
|