4-Week: Family Trouble

Writing our lives often means writing about our families. Family is our first mirror and how we first define ourselves, and that’s why writing about them is one of the trickiest aspects of memoir and personal essay writing.
We can’t get away from these people and how they’ve shaped us, but how fair is it to put them in our stories? How does a writer handle writing about family with honesty and respect?
In this generative class, we’ll examine how writers have tackled writing about family in their essays and memoirs and explore and practice craft techniques that can help us in writing about the people who love us the most, know us the best, and hurt us the worst.
Some writers have opted not to write memoir and personal essays (or have labeled their work fiction) to avoid the pitfalls that surely come when writing about family. This class is for those who can’t help but answer the call, and strive to do so with love.