What are You Really Writing About?

What is Your Memoir Really About? With memoir, it can take some digging to get to the heart of what we’re really writing about. There’s the story of what happened, and then there’s the meaning we’ve attached to it. In memoir, it’s not enough to tell us what happened—we need to know what that event meant to you. To help with that clarity, here’s an exercise I did with a recent class at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. “Truth in a memoir is achieved not through a recital of actual events; it is achieved when the reader comes to believe that the writer is working hard to engage with the experience at hand. What happened to the writer is not what matters; what matters is the larger sense that the writer is able to make of what happened.” Vivian Gornick, The Situation and the Story […]

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How to Get Support for Your Writing in 2020

What kind of support do you need to get your writing off to a great start in the New Year? With the holidays upon us, now’s the perfect time to start planning for the New Year. To help with your planning, here are my offerings for the winter of 2020. In addition to the classes below (scroll down for details), I also offer writing coaching and manuscript reviews. And remember: classes make great gifts for yourself or a loved one! Jan 11: Jumpstart Your Book (half-day) Jan 15: Memoir Mastery: How to Write a Compelling Memoir (8 week) Jan 20: How to Get Your Book into the World (5 week) Feb 1: Reboot Your Memoir (full-day) Feb—April: Writer’s Workshop (biweekly) Here are the classes I’ll be teaching through Lighthouse Writers Workshop: Jan 7: What’s Your Story? Writing Compelling Memoir (8 week) Jan 8: […]

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