Fine Arts Work Center In Provincetown

24PearlStreet Workshops

Ann Hood Jumpstart Your Memoir Non-Fiction February 1 to February 5, 2016 Tuition: $500 Class Size: 12 Session: winter Level: 1 week asynchronous workshop

Often, that moment when you first begin to write is the scariest. This one-week intensive workshop will help you get started by asking the right questions. Whether you’re stuck in a draft that isn’t working, having trouble organizing your story, or are just unable to get started, this class is designed to help you.

In his book on the craft of writing, Stephen King says: the scariest moment is just before you start. This workshop takes that moment and makes it less scary by asking you the right questions about what you are writing and why. Then we will move on to how to begin, and by the end of our week you will have your first 1-3 pages and a road map of where to go next.

Whether you’re stuck in a draft that isn’t working, having trouble organizing your story, or just unable to get started, this workshop will help you.

I will post points for discussion every morning. Your responses by 5:00 that same day will include answering questions to help you get started on your memoir. On our last day, you will post 1-3 opening pages and an outline of your memoir. Everyone will post responses to that by 5:00 that day.

At the end of our workshop, I will mail you a personal feedback letter that will include my thoughts on your opening and how to tweak it and your outline, as well as suggestions for going forward and reading recommendations.

Stephen King also says: you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will. In this workshop, you will!

Biography

Ann Hood is the bestselling author of fourteen novels, including The Knitting Circle, The Obituary Writer, and The Book That Matters Most; and four memoirs. Her memoir Comfort: A Journey Through Grief was a NYT Editor’s Choice and was named one of the top ten nonfiction books of 2008 by Entertainment Weekly. Her essays and stories have appeared in many publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Travel and Leisure, Food and Wine, National Geographic Traveler, and The Paris Review. She has won two Pushcart Prizes, two Best American Food Writing Awards, and a Best American Travel Writing and Best American Spiritual Writing Award. Her most recent book is FLY GIRL, a memoir about her time as a TWA flight attendant during the Golden Age of flying.