Most of us can think of a moment in our life when everything changed. This might have been a religious conversion, a mystical experience, or an encounter with the transcendent. Or it may have been a experience that had little to do with the spiritual realm, be it adopting a new way of life, changing one’s mind about a foundational belief, or leaving the community in which one was raised. Such seismic moments are often the most difficult to put down on paper. But when a writer is able to render an experience of this sort effectively on the page, it can make for the most powerful kind of story.

In this four-week course, we’ll explore how to write convincingly about metaphysical experiences, how to develop a personal transformation within the frame of a story arc, and how to make our experiences compelling to readers who may not share our worldview or beliefs. We’ll read memoir and personal essays on a range of life-changing experiences which will serve as models as you begin to think about how to tell your own story. Each student will draft, workshop, and begin revising an essay (or a chapter from a longer work), and will receive individualized feedback from me and from their fellow classmates. While our discussions will assume a basic familiarity with narrative nonfiction, the course is open to writers from all levels and backgrounds. No prior workshop experience is necessary.