Class Description
Readers of nonfiction rightfully expect honesty and accuracy, but writers of nonfiction often have limited access to the facts. Some writers fabricate, to disastrous results—lawsuits, shame—while others confine themselves to what they know for sure and their work lacks color and depth.
In this workshop we'll explore how writers, especially memoirists, can avoid both of these pitfalls by speculating ethically. We'll examine how some excellent writers use what Lisa Knopp calls “perhapsing,” when their memories are absent or hazy, when their research leaves gaps, or when they're having trouble understanding human behavior. We’ll then experiment with ways to do this ourselves.
Come to class prepared to work on one or two of your paragraphs that feel underdeveloped because you can’t remember or just don’t know what happened. The goal is to leave with a keener understanding of how to expand and enrich your writing while maintaining integrity and your readers’ trust. Open to all levels.
Part of GrubStreet's Special Topics in Nonfiction, a group of classes dedicated to exploring different craft elements of creative nonfiction. For more class offerings, click here.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.