This all-day workshop with award-winning novelist and essayist Peter Mountford runs 10 AM–3 PM, with a lunch break from 12–1 PM.
Attendees will learn the most difficult and important skill in personal essay writing: how to make your personal story relevant to a perfect stranger. Hilary Mantel, on the difficulty of writing about oneself, said: “If other people are to care about your life, art must intervene.”
“Aboutness” is fundamental to a successful essay, yet both literary and general-publication editors frequently complain of receiving writers’ essays that don’t seem to be “about” anything. In this workshop, attendees will figure out how to select a topic, then focus and refine an essay to arc toward theme and meaning.
In the morning, the workshop will focus on choosing an essay’s seeds. These ideas should be inherently engaging from a story standpoint but also contain focused opportunities for rich thematic meaning. The group will generate new writing for a few topics. Attendees will assess different ideas and talk about what each might offer in terms of story and meaning.
In the afternoon, the workshop will focus on developing one or two ideas further into a publishable work that appeals to readers. Specifically, the group will work toward making meaning—how to write/revise toward your essay’s “aboutness.” Attendees will learn how there are several different approaches for seeking and demonstrating meaning, as they work through ideas generated in class. They’ll also learn secrets to successful essay structure.
Come prepared to brainstorm new essay ideas, bring ones you’ve been mulling over, or essays you’ve written that just aren’t working. Attendees will look at examples of how other authors have done this, including Melissa Febos, and Leslie Jamison. The group will look at the first draft vs the published draft of the instructor’s Modern Love essay.
