Writing the "What If"—Speculative Nonfiction Workshop
In this intensive 6-week workshop, students will explore how to bend the boundaries of nonfiction and incorporate speculation into essay and memoir.
Paid Narratively Academy members get 20% off all classes, including this one. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to join—or to get the paid member promo code if you already are a member.
Cost: $495
Class Size Limit: 10
So much of our life experience, or rather how we reflect back on it, centers on the “what if.” What if we’d left earlier, spoken louder, moved here or there, known our parents before they had us, known our lovers before we loved them, known our adult selves as children? These are the scenarios our minds often flip through—however impossible they are in reality.
Incorporating speculation into essay and memoir is a craft decision that allows writers to remain grounded in fact while exploring the “what ifs” of lived experience. Sometimes, this is the key to unlocking those emotional truths we aspire to find in our work that perhaps evade us when reflecting solely on observable events. For example, consider a story from childhood and how often the version held as true is itself inherited—passed down and so inevitably skewed, and then absorbed into personal memory. Should we simply ignore the gap between what “actually” happened and how it was told to us? Or, perhaps we might find that the emotional truth of the story, its core so to speak, lies in that gap. Of course, we also need to question what it means to engage with speculation and speculative elements in nonfiction not just effectively, but ethically.
In this six-week nonfiction workshop led by author and editor Haley Swanson, writers will engage with memoirs, poems, and essays that play with the “what if” of things. Readings will include selections from Jo Ann Beard’s Festival Days, Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House, and Laura Kasischke’s “Bike Ride with Older Boys,” among others.
We’ll explore how these writers speculate on what could’ve been—in relation to events, time, and past selves. We’ll also look at how this strengthens their narrative conceits and how we can implement similar tools in our own essays.
Then, we’ll engage on this level with each other’s work. Each writer will workshop one essay they either feel needs to incorporate speculation or is currently asking these challenging questions.
This is the right class for you if…
You’re working on a personal essay or memoir and you want to explore how to incorporate speculation or speculative elements into your writing.
You know what story you want to tell but you’ve found it to be a bit flat and are looking for new craft choices.
You’ve been thinking about whether your story should be nonfiction or fiction and think it might ultimately land somewhere in between..
This six-week workshop takes place on Tuesdays from 7pm to 9pm ET. Class starts on April 7 and ends on May 12. All Narratively Academy classes are conducted online and accessible to students anywhere in the world. This class will be recorded and shared with all enrolled students in case there are specific sessions you have to miss, but live attendance and participation at a majority of the live sessions is required.
Instructor Bio: Haley Swanson is a writer and co-editor of Sex and the Single Woman: 24 Writers Reimagine Helen Gurley Brown's Cult Classic (Harper Perennial, 2022). Her work has appeared in The Rumpus, Glamour, Electric Literature, Bustle, Creative Nonfiction, and elsewhere. She's received support from Disquiet International, an NES Artist Residency, and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Following her career in book editorial at Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, she’s taught writing workshops for The New York Public Library, Catapult, and Narratively Academy. She’s at work on a novel and lives in Brooklyn.
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.
Scholarships: A limited number of sliding-scale, income-based scholarships are made available when possible. Apply for a scholarship here.
Questions? Email us at academy@narratively.com.