ONLINE MEMOIR INTENSIVE 2022

This May — Friday, May 6 (6-8pm EDT), Saturday, May 7 (10am-7pm EDT) — I’ll be hosting a virtual online memoir workshop. As with my in-person workshops, I’ll be asking each writer in the group to submit a piece of personal narrative of no more than 2.500 words—or a letter, describing the story she or he wants to write but hasn’t been able to.  Each writer’s story will be shared not only with me but with every member of the group, through a confidential drop box.  

Over the course of our time together, we’ll be examining each writer’s story, one by one, in sessions running roughly 45 minutes apiece.  The revelation, here, for most writers who join me at my workshops, is that they will learn at least as much, and often more, from the workshopping of their fellow writers’ work as they will, from their own.

In addition to the time devoted to workshopping of each writer’s work, I’ll be addressing questions of craft—dead language (and language that comes alive), point of view, voice, story arc, the container concept, and the question faced by every writer of memoir: How can I be a truthful, authentic writer without violating the privacy of people in my life?  (This is a tough one.  I don’t pretend to offer a definitive answer here.  But we’ll explore where I come down on that one, and look at the kinds of choices each writer in the group is likely to face.)  We’ll also discuss how to create a healthy writing practice, and talk a little about publication. 

We’ll look at the editing and revision process—most particularly, how cutting the fat off your writing (as painful as it may be) will bring a new energy to your work.  I’ll also talk you through two examples of the short personal essay—one written by a writer I admire, and one by me—and consider the kinds of decisions that went into the crafting of that piece of work. 

I want to add:  when I call this an “INTENSIVE”, I mean it. Over the course of our time together, I’ll be offering a total of 11 hours of writing instruction (with an hour off, for lunch).  While I recognize that this makes for a long day, I hope everyone in the group will stay with us for the workshop sessions of your fellow writers. You are likely to get a great deal out of every single segment of the workshop that you are able to attend and participate in.