I’ll be teaching a new creative nonfiction class — memoir, essay — with Writing Workshops Los Angeles. It will start on June 1, and run for 8 weeks. It’s shaping up like this:
In this mixed-level course, we will read and discuss published narrative nonfiction as a means to investigate questions of truth and storytelling, and where the two intersect. There will be in-class exercises that address specific craft issues such as scene and voice, among others, and every student will have the opportunity to workshop at least one piece of nonfiction writing in a serious environment meant to challenge and inspire each member of the class.
This course will take place in the instructor’s home in Echo Park, where beer, wine and sparkling water—and the occasional delicious snack—will be served.
In class, we will explore the pleasures of reality-based narratives and the sometimes-conflicting pressures of truthtelling and storytelling. We will discuss the difference between memoir and memory, the difficulties of disclosure, and explore the edges of nonfiction. We will also practice, practice, practice: form, technique, discipline, play. Workshops and exercises are designed to ignite the desire to read and to write. Each individual voice will be fostered, encouraging students to be the best writers they can be.
