Writing about People We Love: Balance Candor with Compassion

Additional Information

We write about people we love all the time. They become characters in our novels, or they drive us to write that personal essay or memoir. And yet, they have their own fully realized stories, as well. How do we tell our truths while staying compassionate to theirs? How do we write with humor, courage, rage, or beauty about the ones we love(d)?

Writers can struggle with ethical considerations, fear of betraying family, or worries about backlash. Writers may even struggle with voice or character-building that’s honest but also serves the larger story. This webinar will offer examples, arguments, and techniques for writing compelling stories about the people we love.

We’ll look at the work of renowned writers who overcame their fears, examining how they handled these challenges. You’ll learn how to find the moments and voices of family that lend themselves best to the story, as well as how to stay focused on the goal of writing the story while navigating the ethics and perils of writing uncomfortable truths.

In this webinar, you will:

• CONSIDER how writing stories drawn from our lives and our loved ones can be authentic, courageous, and compassionate. We will determine the reasons why we must tell these stories of the ones we love.
• EXAMINE the ethics and perils of such writing and learn how writers have done it over the ages. We will look at examples for inspiration.
• LEARN the craft of building beautiful stories from the nuggets and voices of family life. We will learn how to use memory, lists, writing prompts, and other exercises to generate new writing.

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

This webinar is ideal for beginning or mid-career writers who intend to write stories that include family members or other loved ones.

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.