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CW 133 — Read Like a Writer: Lifting the Hood on Creative Nonfiction

Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Alysia Abbott
Duration: 6 weeks
Location: Online
Date(s): Jan 20—Feb 24
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 5:30—7:30 pm (PT)
Tuition: $445
   
Refund Deadline: Jan 22
 
Unit(s): 1
   
Enrollment Limit: 30
  
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
 
Quarter: Winter
Day: Wednesdays
Duration: 6 weeks
Time: 5:30—7:30 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 20—Feb 24
Unit(s): 1
Location: Online
 
Tuition: $445
 
Refund Deadline: Jan 22
 
Instructor(s): Alysia Abbott
 
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
 
Enrollment Limit: 30
 
Recording Available: Yes
 
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
 
 
Resonant creative nonfiction often feels deeply personal, intimate, even confessional. But these effects are not accidental; they are created through craft. By looking closely at how a piece is built, we can identify the choices shaping a reader’s experience. Through emulation, we learn to create those effects in our own writing. This course teaches the craft of creative nonfiction by combining close reading and generative writing. We’ll spend the first 40 minutes of each session analyzing works by acclaimed authors, including Alexander Chee, David Sedaris, and Jesmyn Ward, examining the emotional and intellectual impact of specific craft choices. You’ll then have 20 minutes to try that week’s technique via a generative prompt. We’ll explore macro elements of creative nonfiction, like structure, point of view, and theme, as well as micro elements, such as word choice and imagery. At the end of each session, you’ll share your prompt-driven work in small breakouts for on-the-spot observation.

ALYSIA ABBOTT
Author

Alysia Abbott’s award-winning memoir, Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father, was made into a feature film. She has taught writing and literature at MIT, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Emerson College, and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She previously ran the Memoir Incubator at GrubStreet. Abbott’s essays, commentary, and criticism have appeared in The Boston Globe and The New York Times, on NPR, and elsewhere. She received an MFA in creative nonfiction from The New School.