Creative nonfiction is the art of writing truthfully and accurately about history while using the techniques of compelling storytelling. Think of recent popular titles like The Devil in the White City, or Seabiscuit: An American Legend.
This informative, hands-on workshop focuses on the process from beginning to end, and also covers publishing and ethical issues related to writing about historical topics. Writing exercises are included in three of the day’s sessions.
9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Finding the Story and Writing a Great First Sentence
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Writing Character
12:15 to 1:30 p.m. Lunch (Participants provide their own lunch)
1:30 to 2:45 p.m. Different Kinds of Narrative; Sketching Out a Plot
3 to 4:15 p.m. Developing a Topic Sensitively; Getting Published
Tilar Mazzeo is co-chair of the English department at Colby College, has taught for the Great Courses series, and is the author of The Widow Cliquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It.
Participants are encouraged to read Jon Krakauer’s Three Cups of Deceit and Amy Wallace’s Caught Getting Creative in advance of the seminar.
