tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1119335579919927653.post3499555721775354565..comments2024-03-22T08:12:08.193-07:00Comments on BookNAround: Review: The Mercy Papers by Robin RommKristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07651401312450990123noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1119335579919927653.post-2061866743191040242012-03-14T19:30:25.378-07:002012-03-14T19:30:25.378-07:00Hello. . . I'm Jill McDonough, and I run 24Pea...Hello. . . I'm Jill McDonough, and I run 24PearlStreet, the Fine Arts Work Center online. And Robin Romm is teaching a class for us, online, starting April 9: it’s called “Shaping the Truth.” Here's a course description and link:<br /><br /> Often, we know we have a story, but when we sit down to write it, if we sit down to write it, the details all come rushing forward, jumbled and tangled. Which scene is actually important? Do we need all these characters? And what about the issue of chronology? How do memoirists and journalists write such shapely nonfiction, when the world is such a unruly and complicated place? <br />This course, which is open to all nonfiction writers (memoirists, personal essayists, nature writers, travel writers, science writers, food writers, etc.), will focus on how to isolate the most interesting stories and then hone them, so they come across as interesting stories to the reader. How do we choose details that will evoke an emotional response? How do we write our difficult material without becoming maudlin or sentimental? How do we write complex human dynamics, or fold in factual information without becoming wonks? What is the role of plot of in creative nonfiction? Each week, writers will be presented with a structured exercise that will explore issues of craft: dialogue, detail, character, story arc. At times, students will be asked to explore the line between fiction and nonfiction in these exercises, in order to wake up emotional accuracy. Students will have four short essays or stories that will lead to the completion of one full-length piece. (The full-length piece will be a composite of these pieces, or an entirely new piece inspired by these pieces.) Students will have the chance to email with me directly about these pieces, as well as get ample feedback and encouragement from peers. In order to fully understand craft, we will be reading both fiction and nonfiction by writers such as Vivian Gornick, Dave Eggers, Lorrie Moore, Peter Orner, and Elizabeth Gilbert.<br /><br />http://fawc.org/24pearlstreet/workshops.php?filter=02#Robin<br /><br />I was thinking you all might want to know about it. . . or at least I could let you know you are not whistling into the wind there at your computer. We are a new program, and are still trying to figure out how to get the word out there. Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts—and thanks!<br /><br />take care--<br /><br />Jill<br />jmcdonough@fawc.org<br />http://fawc.org/24pearlstreet/index.phpJill McDonoughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11119364588295087344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1119335579919927653.post-63681804472589286492010-06-23T13:34:35.667-07:002010-06-23T13:34:35.667-07:00Wow. This looks like a powerful book. Not one I ...Wow. This looks like a powerful book. Not one I could handle right now but a good one to keep in mind if someone is going through the same thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com