Do you love a true story well told? For some readers there’s nothing more satisfying than a great biography, or books like Unbroken, Devil in the White City, and Killers of the Flower Moon. For curious writers, a narrative nonfiction project is pure joy. It’s a chance to dig into a subject that fascinates you, talk to people about the formative experiences of their lives, and fashion it all into a story that’s both compelling and true to the world you’ve researched.
This class will explore the process from start to finish. What makes a fruitful subject? How do you make the most of your research? How do you use the tools of a fiction writer—structure, scene, voice, pacing, point of view—to tell a great story? How creative can you get and still call a story “true”?
We’ll use mostly readings from middle-grade and YA nonfiction, but the material we cover will be just as helpful if you’re writing for adults. We’ll split the class between lecture/discussion and workshop. During the second half of class we’ll discuss 10 pages of your work—either the beginning of a book project or a proposal for one. You don’t necessarily have to have pages before the start of the class, but if you’ve had a book idea in the back of your head, now’s the time to start exploring it!
Tues. June 4-July 9, 1-3 PM
Instructor: Tod Olson