| Say More with Less: A Creative Nonfiction Workshop

Find the beating heart of your memoir or essay with Penny Guisinger.

“I apologize for writing such a long letter. I didn’t have time to write a short one.” — Mark Twain. 

Keeping your writing sleek and spare while still conveying your story is a delicate balance. Regardless of whether you are writing a memoir, a full-length essay, or a flash piece, concision is one of the keys to good prose, and it doesn’t happen by accident. Guided by Penny Guisinger this course will focus on finding the beating heart of first drafts by paring away the excess, choosing a structure that serves the piece (not the writer), crafting sentences that work together, and hiring the right verbs for the job. Together, we will examine good writing at the macro and micro levels to determine what works and what doesn’t. Much attention will be paid to the difference between the wild rush of a first draft and the deliberate process of revision. You can expect to generate new work and spend time revising it toward its best iteration.

Penny will share examples of how she has revised her own work, taking it from an unruly, wordy first draft to a polished, publishable piece. You will be given opportunities to try different approaches to shaping and honing your own work. (It’s often a messy process, so you should come prepared to get words all over yourself!) 

Daily lectures will focus on different aspects of craft: voice, structure, sentences, metaphor, sensory detail, setting, and revision. The week will include time for writing, sharing, discussions, and one-on-one interaction with the instructor. Participants will leave with multiple pieces in progress, some stage of revision completed, and ideas about what to do next. The course is designed for writers at any level of experience.

Works by Penny Guisinger

Header Photo by Patrick Tomasso.