Hello writers,
You might think that because memoir and personal essay are nonfiction, you don’t need to worry about character building. After all, the “characters” in your work are real people, but that’s not quite true.
Character building might look a little different in nonfiction, but it is still an essential part of the process. Even though the stories memoir and essay writers are telling really did happen, they still need to be tweaked and refined in order to craft a compelling story. The problem is that when you are faced with turning yourself and your loved ones into characters, it can be difficult to put enough distance between the real people you know and the characters in the story you’re telling to get it right.
That’s why we’re excited to be offering the class “Character Development in Memoir: How to Deepen the Story” with Charlotte Gullick on Saturday, April 30. If you’re writing memoir or personal essays and you want to better understand how character development can improve your story, this class is for you.
All the best,
Sam Babiak
Program Director
