Character Development: Writing Our Others

Additional Information

We’ll take a single essay by Mary-Louise Parker—“Dear Daddy”—as a point of departure for a prompt-embedded conversation about the development of characters in the pages of true stories and the power of the epistolary memoir as both a craft tool and a final product.

How do we develop scenes stemming from histories that are not ours? How do we move a character ahead in time? How do we use others in our work to also develop ourselves?

You will leave the webinar with new tools and strategies that will broaden your perspective and fortify your craft. We’ll also take a look at how Parker’s essay evolved from its original appearance, in Esquire, to its appearance in the pages of her memoir-in-letters, Dear Mr. You—an exercise that will offer helpful self-editing tactics.

In this webinar, you will:

• LEARN about the power of the epistolary memoir through various examples
• DELVE into “Dear Daddy,” by Mary-Louise Parker, to learn a number of techniques and strategies related to crafting the other
• LEAVE with targeted prompts designed to help jump-start or broaden your work

We suggest reading the above linked essay before the webinar.

There will be time for a Q & A at the end of the presentation.

This webinar is for anyone whose true story demands an honest rendering of the others in their lives. Writers at any career stage are welcome.

All registrants receive a recording.