Advanced Craft Workshop: Finding Your Structure
Struggling to figure out how your memoir or nonfiction story takes shape? In this intimate class, we'll explore a few nontraditional story structures and zero in on which one is right for you.
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This class is now sold out, but we will offer a new session as soon as there are enough students on the advance wait list. If you join the advance waiting list for the next session, we’ll make sure you’re the first to know next time it’s offered.
The traditional narrative arc is a classic way to structure a piece of writing, but sometimes it doesn’t fit for what we are trying to say. But there are many other forms and shapes that our writing can take, from braids to spirals to wavelets to meanders.
In this intimate two-part workshop, author Kristina Gaddy will lead students in examining the ways that top nonfiction and memoir writers structure their work in both conventional and unconventional ways. While non-traditional structures can often be complicated, sometimes with the right scaffolding, a piece actually becomes easier to write, revise, and understand.
In the first day of this two-day workshop, students will dive into the structures for several classic and contemporary essays and nonfiction books, and learn how each of those structures adds to the piece as a whole. In the second part, students will consider the particular story they are trying to tell, figure out their current structure, and complete writing exercises focused on revising your work to understand how specific structural changes can improve your story. By the end, you’ll know whether your essay, article, memoir or book is a braided narrative, a spiral structure, or something totally different.
This is a small class with just 10 seats, and every student will have a chance to discuss their own project and get feedback.
This class is right for you if…
You’ve been working on a shorter or longer piece of nonfiction or memoir and are struggling with structure.
You’ve published nonfiction writing and want to explore more unconventional forms and shapes in your writing .
You’re working on a longer piece and feel you need to organize it in a more compelling manner.
This seminar takes place on Saturday, December 6 and Saturday, December 13 at 11am ET. All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and are accessible to students anywhere in the world. This class will be recorded and shared with all enrolled students, but live attendance and participation is strongly encouraged.
Instructor Bio: Kristina R. Gaddy is the author of Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History and Flowers in the Gutter: The True Story of the Edelweiss Pirates, Teenagers Who Resisted the Nazis. Her essay in Narratively about Jewish teenagers before WWII won the American Society of Journalists and Authors 2022 Best Reported Essay. Her essay “Intersection Landscapes” appears in the anthology A Harp in the Stars (Nebraska 2021) and her personal writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Museum of Americana and Fearsome Critters. She is one of the editors of true, a literary journal that explores the craft of nonfiction. She lives in Baltimore and has taught writing locally and presented about nonfiction craft at national writing conferences.
Registration Details: Seats in this class are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Prior to the start of your class you’ll receive an invitation to access the virtual classroom and view all class materials.
Cancellation Policy:
Full refund when canceling 7 or more days before the class start date.
50% refund when canceling less than 7 days before the class start date.
No cancellations after the class start date.
Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.
More: Check out all of our Narratively Academy online writing classes here.