Changing Your Life: Turning Reality Into Fiction

As Marcel Proust wrote, "Creative wrong memory is a source of art." The characters, settings, and plot points from our lives are often wonderful fodder for stories and novels. But how do we take the next step of fictionalizing at least some of the stuff of our own experience—and why bother to at all?

In this workshop, we'll look at the whys and hows of turning elements of our lives into great fiction, and we'll do several fun, thought-provoking exercises to practice this art. We will end with some informal sharing of our work and our process. Fiction writers of all levels will benefit from this course; those who haven't written much will be able to generate basic ideas, and those who already have stories they're working with will be able to go deeper.

Class Format

This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting!

Scholarship Information

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.