September 19-23, 2011 Wildacres Retreat, Little Switzerland, NC USA |
2011 COURSES AND INSTRUCTORS
WRITING MEMOIR OR In this workshop (geared to both beginning and advanced writers), you'll learn how to work with your memories, transforming what you have seen, heard, touched, and felt into a narrative readers are interested in. For those of you who've completed a memoir, we'll discuss how to read your pages analytically and diagnostically, how to make decisions and fix problems so that the writing is as good as you can make it and your story holds together. I'll help you come up with that seductive opening sentence or paragraph. You'll learn the difference between scene and summary –an essential piece of knowledge for every creative-nonfiction writer. You'll learn to include reflection, use dialogue, turn the people in your life into characters readers care about. I'll encourage you to have a sense of optimism about your work so that you can keep going even when it feels like a huge mess. We'll discuss establishing a writing schedule that works for you and making time to write. I'll address truth vs. betrayal – how much to reveal about people close to you. I have new information on how to find an agent and will share that with you. I'll also assign exercises to help you discover your most engaging material. Bring 13 copies to Wildacres of the 2 opening pages (double-spaced) of your essay or memoir for group discussion and critique. Mail 10 double-spaced pages (which start with the 2 pages you're bringing for group discussion ) to me at 1121 Scotland Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28207 – by September 1. Do not email them to me. I'll return these 10 pages to you – with my detailed written comments – at the workshop. If you're just beginning and have no pages to send, that's fine; you'll still feel a part of this workshop. |
 Judy Goldman is currently working on a memoir, Unreliable Hearts: A Sister's Memoir. She's the author of two published novels and two published books of poetry. Her latest novel, Early Leaving (William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins) was called “masterfully written and fast-paced – highly recommended” by Library Journal. Her first novel, The Slow Way Back (Morrow), won the Sir Walter Raleigh Fiction Award, Mary Ruffin Poole First Fiction Award, and was a finalist for the Southeast Booksellers Association's Novel of the Year. Her work is forthcoming in Real Simple magazine and has appeared in The Washington Post, The Charlotte Observer, The Writer, Southern Review, Gettysburg Review, Ohio Review, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, and Kenyon Review. A long-time teacher, Judy received the Fortner Writer and Community Award for “outstanding generosity to other writers and the larger community” and the Hobson Award For Arts and Letters. www.judygoldman.com |
