WRITING ABOUT YOUR LIFE: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
Everyday life offers us unlimited opportunities for reflection and for making sense of the world around us. Join us to explore the fascinating material generated by our own lives and, at the same time, develop the writing techniques to make the writing more engaging, interesting, and effective.
This is a friendly, supportive workshop in which to write your personal stories in the essay, memoir, or any other nonfiction form that interests you. Participants may either work on material they already have in mind to write, or write optional written “assignments” designed to spark imagination and inspire creativity.
All writing will be done prior to each workshop meeting and shared in a constructive and supportive atmosphere. Critiquing and group discussions will be designed to elevate the quality of the work through narrative techniques such as use of scene and summary, internal and external dialogue, reflection, sensory experience, descriptive elements, and character development.
This workshop is ideal for beginners who wish to get started putting their stories or thoughts in writing. It is also appropriate for those who have already done some personal essay, memoir, or other nonfiction writing and are ready to share and further shape their work.
The instructor, Jessica Bram, holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. She is the author of Happily Ever After Divorce: Notes of a Joyful Journey published by Health Communications. Jessica’s personal essays have been published and syndicated in newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, New York Times Magazine HERS Column, Child Magazine, The Connecticut Post, and Gannett Newspapers. Her commentaries have aired on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and on the Fairfield County NPR station WSHU. In 2003 she founded the Westport Writers’ Workshop.