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Workshop Descriptions & Instructors
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Mary Kay Shanley Coming to Your Senses?Strategies for the Memoirist Helping the Beginner Take Smaller Pictures Coming to Your Senses―Strategies for the Memoirist You have this story, this memoir you want to share. Family and friends will read it, of course, but the likely majority of readers―thousands, perhaps?—will be strangers. So how do you connect with them? What will engage them with your story? For one thing, the commonality of senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. Write about the comforting aroma inside the corner bakery, and readers smell cinnamon mingling with yeast. Write about diving into a lake in November and readers shiver. When the storyteller sees, hears, touches, tastes or smells something, the reader connects with “Hey, I’m with you.” In this class, we’ll explore the senses through assignments that heighten awareness of their role in your life and your writing. Participants who are already working on a memoir can use existing material for class assignments. There may also be workshopping opportunities, though not as part of the agenda. Participants who want to begin a memoir will find this the perfect place to start. Either way, I ask registrants to send a writing sample ahead of time so I have a sense of your style. Helping the Beginner Take Smaller Pictures One common problem beginning writers experience, usually without realizing it, is taking only big pictures―that is, trying to tell everything at once. When that happens, the writer ends up merely skimming the surface. We get the story outline but miss the richness of the story itself. There aren’t marvelous details or vibrant conversations; the characters don’t unfold on the page and the places we’re taken lack soul. Nothing invites the reader to connect. So whay should you do? Take your time, no matter your genre. Allow your story space to move in, get close, bring the reader along. We’ll learn the difference between big pictures and the smaller, more vibrant ones hidden inside. Then, we’ll break down our own big pictures and breathe life into the smaller ones that emerge. I ask participants to submit one page of writing ahead of time so I’ll be familiar with your writing style. This piece won’t be workshopped. Rather, we will create work, so count on some out-of-class writing time. Biography
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by Instructor Sponsored by the Division of Continuing Education Last updated on February 10, 2009 |
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