Summer Writing Retreat 2023: “True Stories Told Well: Memory, Form, and Voice in Memoir and Personal Essay” with Rachel Starnes
July 10, 2023 - July 31, 2023
$269.00 – $389.00
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This Event is for Members only.
Click here to learn more about benefits of membership
Level 1 (Class Only): $269 for Members, $329 for Non-Members
Level 2 (Class + Private Consultation): $329 for Members, $389 for Non-Members*
*WLT Members have an exclusive window to register for the 20 seats available in the Level 2 registration. After May 22, non-members will be able to register for Level 2 if seats remain. To access the member price, please be sure to log in to your account.
This July, join us for our virtual 2023 Summer Writing Retreat featuring three classes on memoir, fiction, and revision plus lots of special events throughout the month, including Saturday Craft Seminars (July 8 and July 29), meet-ups, and dedicated writing time. Want to know more? Watch our 2023 Summer Writing Retreat Informational Session on YouTube here.
Each class will meet weekly for four weeks, starting the week of July 10, ending the week of July 31. Our memoir and personal essay class with Rachel Starnes will meet every Monday (July 10, 17, 24, 31) from 6:30 PM CDT to 9:30 PM CDT via Zoom. A recording of each class session will be shared with all class registrants the day after – so you won’t miss anything even if you need to skip a session. Class details are below.
Registration for this class will close at 5:00 PM CDT on Monday, July 10.
Joan Didion said “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” Storytelling is an act of meaning-making, both for the author and the audience, and the choices we make – which events to include, how to frame them, and in what order – influence how we understand the world and our place in it. Especially when the raw material we are working with is challenging or flawed (imperfect memories, contested accounts of an event), these choices matter.
In this class we’ll practice noticing the choices in our own stories and the stories of others. Through close readings of other writers and short exercises of our own, we’ll experiment with different techniques and practices to broaden the range of options we employ in our writing.
Over the course of four sessions, we will explore both memoir and personal essays, including work from Carmen Maria Machado, Deborah Levy, Jo Ann Beard, and Brian Doyle. The focus of our discussions will be on form, voice, and style.
Before each class, students will be asked to read an excerpt of a published work and will be given a list of questions to guide their reading. Short written exercises may be assigned.
By the end of the course, students will have written several pieces that can be worked into a larger in-progress project or form the basis of new work. They will also be conversant in the elements of personal nonfiction writing.
About each session:
Week 1 (July 10): The Lay of the Land: We’ll start with a short history of the forms and why now is a particularly exciting time for memoirs and personal essays. Our exercises and discussion will lay out a working knowledge of some of the elements of personal nonfiction, including narrative persona and the differences between scene, summary, and analysis.
Week 2 (July 17): Memories and Other Imperfect Things: In this second session, we’ll discuss a little neuroscience around memory formation, the special case of trauma, and how writers define their “line in the sand” when it comes to narrative truth. Exercises and discussion will focus on techniques for calling out, and working with, the holes in our memories.
Week 3 (July 24): Adventures in Form: In the third session, we’ll explore a few innovative choices in form, including lyric essays, collage form, and a Choose Your Own Adventure. Our discussion will focus on tension and expectations, and exercises will give students a chance to perform a few experiments of their own.
Week 4 (July 31): Revising and Getting Unstuck: Writing and revising are two entirely different skills that call on different parts of the brain. In this final session, we’ll revisit some of the pieces we’ve written during the course (or other work in-progress) and practice a few techniques for reworking, or reimagining an idea.
Take this class if…:
Take this class if you’ve got a memoir or personal essay in-progress, are thinking about starting one, or are stuck somewhere along the way. The exercises we do and the excerpts we explore are meant to jumpstart your creativity and expand your toolkit.
Preparation for the first day:
Students will be asked to read an essay by Jo Ann Beard. A brief list of guiding questions will be provided to help frame our discussion.
Registration details:
Choose your registration level:
Level 1 (Class Only): $269 for Members, $329 for Non-Members
OR
Level 2 (Class + Private Consultation): $329 for Members, $389 for Non-Members
The difference: Level 2 (Class + Private Consultation) registrations include one 20-minute meeting with Rachel Starnes sometime during the month (via Zoom). If you’d like, you can also share 10 pages of your work for feedback ahead of the meeting.
You may register online, or download the mail-in registration form here.
Instructor
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Rachel Starnes is the author of The War at Home: A Wife’s Search for Peace and Other Missions Impossible. She received her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from California State University, Fresno and her BA from the University of Texas. Her essays have appeared in The Colorado Review, Front Porch Journal, and O Magazine, and she has been a guest on NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross.
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