The personal essay is the single best way to understand one of the basic rules of memoir: tell one story at a time. In this course, you will first create a blueprint of the larger story you’d like to tell, then focus on creating several short essays. Each nonfiction essay will serve as an individual […]
If you’re writing a memoir, you can get stalled by wanting to protect yourself or others from the truth. This class will be a safe container for grappling with how to tell both the difficult and the inspiring, and how to find the right voice and structure for your story. We will review basic elements […]
Explore forms of personal essay such as lyric, spiritual, contemplative, humorous, nature, or opinion. Draw on memories, experiences, observations, or data to tell your story and express your ideas. We will discuss craft: scene, storytelling, imagery, character, and structure of your piece. Combine personal meanings and universal themes. Draw your readers into your reflections, experiment […]
Personal writing can help individuals understand themselves and their place in the world around them. This course will focus on expression first and craft second as we work from provided texts and writing prompts and share our experiences in a safe, supportive space. Ultimately, participants will learn a variety of strategies for establishing a regular […]
Since human memory is a mystery, how to writers grapple with the details of the past? One way to capture these slippery details is to create a memory map, like a road to the past, a guide to our emotional truths. Getting these physical characteristics of scenes is the first step in creating vivid and […]
Flash nonfiction is a story shrunk into miniature form. It’s a moment in our lives, or a scene shaped and compressed into a small capsule, usually 750 words or less. This can be a challenging yet immensely rewarding form to work in. This form teaches one of the most valuable lessons of writing, and often […]
