March 29, 2024

INHERITANCE, by Dani Shapiro

What Made Inheritance a Bestselling Memoir?

This class is being transcribed and will be available in 2020.

This 4-week course focuses on what memoirists can learn from Dani Shapiro’s take on writing what you know, circling your obsessions, and finding your truth in your unique voice. We will focus on the power of universal writing, supporting your reader to feel and experience your story as their own, and how to weave narration (and narrative voice) between the past and the present.

 
Class 1: HONORING THE STORY THAT WON’T LEAVE YOU ALONE A look at the “unthought known” and obsession and how to use these to your advantage (and ward off your critics).

Class 2: HARNESSING SELF-UNDERSTANDING IN MEMOIR
How to write about who you think you are, making sense of the complicated layers of self, and unpacking other people’s motivations in your story.

Class 3: WEAVING IN THE PAST TO MAKE SENSE OF THE PRESENT
How to use narration to integrate your story (through tense, memory, flashback, and skillful transitions.

Class 4: THE POWER OF UNIVERSAL WRITING How to make your writing resonant to readers no matter what your life experience or theirs, taking a deep look at reflection, takeaway, and finding meaning in scenes and in prose.