Class Description
One of the reasons people read memoir is to enter and experience a different world. As you write, it’s your job to create that world, making sure to include both your internal space—your emotional state when the story takes place—and the world that is the backdrop to your story, including geography, climate, interiors, and historical context. Setting is the wallpaper of your story: It should neatly fit into the larger work, enhancing the narrative themes and characters, but not be so dominant that it overwhelms the people in the room. In this seminar we will look at the many ways we can develop the external worlds of our personal stories. We will read examples of the role of setting in successful memoir and essays and do in-class writing to help the worlds of our memoirs come to life. You will leave this seminar with new writing and a new perspective on existing work.
Part of GrubStreet's Memoir Series, dedicated to the craft and process of memoir writing. Classes include:
- The Memoir Series: The I-Narrator vs. The I-Character
- The Memoir Series: Memory vs. Truth
- The Memoir Series: Details! Details! Details!
- In a World: The Geography of Memoir
- The Memoir Series: Writing the Family
- The Memoir Series: Where to Begin
- The Memoir Series: How to Build Suspense
To learn more about instructor Alysia Abbott and her teaching style, check out the short podcast with her in our GrubStreet Instructor Interview series:
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 detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.