AUTOFICTION WORKSHOP: Exploring Hybrid Writing 

START DATE: Sunday, August 16, 2020

END DATE: Sunday,  September 13, 2020

DURATION: 6 weeks

LOCATION: Zoom and email for assignments

FEEDBACK: Instructor feedback and critique

COURSE DESCRIPTION: What is autofiction? It's not memoir, fiction or personal essay, but might have elements of all three. Auto-fiction is a genre for writers who want to write about their experiences and personal insights without being held back by the "facts." Autofiction allows writers to pen personal experience without the constraints of traditional autobiography. In this course, we will explore some of the techniques of writers who have reconstructed events from their own lives using methods borrowed from other genres to create new forms. There will be weekly readings that we will use to discuss different elements of craft in terms of narrative, structure, genre, tone, narrator, character and theme. We will also have a weekly writing exercise based on the reading as well as group and instructor workshopping of participant work.

WEEKS AT A GLANCE:

WEEK 1: Getting to the Emotional Truth of the Story

Forget the facts and focus on your core message. Reading by Alexander Chee. Complete at least one writing exercise of 1,000 words. Post for peer feedback.

WEEK 2: Set Your Protagonist Free

Complete at least one writing exercise of no more than 1,000 words. Post for feedback. Readings from Chris Kraus.

WEEK 3: Draw from Your Own Experience

Complete at least one writing exercise of no more than 1,000 words. Post for feedback. Readings from Juliet Escoria.

WEEK 4: Shut up so others can speak.

Complete at least one writing exercise of no more than 1,000 words. Post for feedback. Reading from Scott McClanahan.

WEEK 5: Pictures, Objects, Sensory Prompts

Complete at least one writing exercise of no more than 1,000 words. Post for feedback. Reading from Bruno Schulz.

WEEK 6: Sights, Smells, and Other Sensory Memories.

Complete at least one writing exercise of no more than 1,000 words. Post for feedback. Reading from Maggie Nelson.

Materials needed: All written materials in the form of lectures, ebooks, story links, etc. are provided by the instructor.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Canadian Gila Green is the author of No Entry, a young adult, environmental fiction novel; novel in stories White Zion and two adult novels, Passport Control and King of the Class. She has published dozens of short stories in literary magazines and anthologies. Please visit: www.gilagreenwrites.com

Cost: Summer special. Email me through this site for details.