Writing Past What You Know: Creative Strategies in Memoir

We’re told to “write what you know”—but what happens when there are gaps in our memories, absences in family history or disagreements about what really happened? In this weeklong memoir workshop, we’ll practice writing what we don’t or can’t know. Experimenting with innovative methods for creative research will allow us to add details that enrich our memories, deepen scenes, expand our characterization and improve our imagery as we build an engrossing world for readers. We’ll also use what essayist Lisa Knott calls “perhapsing” to speculate about those parts of our histories that we can never truly know. We will leave this workshop with lots of new words and strategies to keep writing long after our time together. Open to beginning and experienced writers.

This workshop is at Murphy Writing’s Getaway to Write—Florida, at the beautiful Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, FL. Read more and register here.

Only two spots left!