Class Description
You have a true story to tell, but how do you sift through all of the details, facts, and information to find the beating heart of your narrative? The art of memoir is just as much about what we leave out as what we put in.
In this one-day course, we will study key passages from both conventional and unconventional memoirs to find various examples of successful narrative structures, widening our understanding of the form. We will discuss these passages in detail and generate our own work through targeted exercises that draw on specific source material. We will also have an opportunity to workshop either prepared manuscript pages (1-3 pages) or the exercise material generated on the spot. Please come to class with knowledge of your memoir’s basic premise and a sense of what source materials you want to use. (This can include your memories; some writers don’t have more than this to go on, and that’s okay.)
The goal, by the end of the course, is to come away with ideas for getting to the heart of your story.
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.