CURRENT AND UPCOMING CLASSES

In this session, we'll talk about a form of memoir where the narrative is formed around the author’s attempts to understand their own experience—with readers following along on a search for meaning, clarity, or closure.

This course will guide you through the process of writing a braided personal essay that incorporates research, criticism, and/or other external elements—from generating an idea and identifying the various strands, to developing those strands, and, of course, braiding them together.

You’ve written a personal essay, you’ve revised it, maybe even had a friend read it and give you feedback, but it’s still not quite up to snuff. You know it could be a great piece, but something isn’t quite clicking. Now what?

Editors always say they’re looking for new, fresh, exciting, surprising angles for personal essays. They want to see something they haven’t seen before, to approach universal topics in brand new ways. But what does that even mean, and how are you supposed to know what they have and haven’t seen before? This independent study will teach you a few strategies for finding that fresh angle, digging into your unique perspective to find new ways into stories that only you can write.

This independent study will guide you through a three-step process to write an outline. If you’re still in the drafting and revision stage, the outline you’ll put together here will help you see your structure clearly so you can rework and hone it. And then when you’re done revising (or if you’ve come to this independent study with an already finished and polished manuscript), you can also use this outline for your book proposal.