Shaping a Narrative around Questions with Lilly Dancyger

Saturday April 19th 10AM—1PM Pacific over Zoom
(A recording will be made available to all registrants for a limited period afterwards.)

There's often so much emphasis on plot in conversations about storytelling, but there are other ways to move a narrative forward. Sometimes the most interesting thing isn't what happened, and then what happened next, and then what happened next—but what we have to say about what happened, and how our perspective on a single event can shift and change over time.

In this session, we'll talk about how to shape a personal essay—or even a book-length memoir—around how you think and feel about an experience, as opposed to the chronological order of events. We'll focus on the internal arc (perspective, emotion, how our relationship to a formative experience changes over time), discussing examples and writing together.

Lilly Dancyger is the author of the essay collection First Love (The Dial Press, 2024) and the memoir Negative Space (SFWP, 2021). She's a nonfiction editor at Barrelhouse Books, and her writing has been published by Guernica, Literary Hub, The Rumpus, Longreads, The Washington Post, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and more. She lives in New York City, and you can find her on Twitter at @lillydancyger.

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Pricing:

The following payment model is inspired by and borrowed from the payment model of Bayo Akomolafe’s class, We Will Dance With Mountains: Into the Cracks.

This workshop offers a sliding scale based on your relative financial standing. In an effort to reflect disparity in economic condition and access to wealth, the following payment system is designed for those with more wealth to help cover the costs of those with less access to wealth and resources. We trust your discernment of your current financial situation and how you fit into the global economic context.

As you decide what amount to pay, please consider your present-day financial situation governed by income, but also the following factors: historical discrimination faced by your peoples; your financial wealth (retirement/savings/investments); your access to income and financial wealth, both current and anticipated (how easily could you earn more income compared to other people in your community, country, and the world; are you expecting an inheritance); people counting on your financial livelihood including dependents and community members; the socio-economic conditions of your locale (relative to other places in your country and in the world); your relationship to food & resource scarcity.

$275 Partner

$225 Supporter (Note: This amount reflects the “real” value of this course.)

$175 Companion

$150 Friend

A limited number of scholarships are also available for anyone needing further financial assistance. Please email Daniel at registration@corporealwriting.com for more info, or if you are feeling challenged in any way by the financial requirements of participation.

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Testimonials for Shaping a Narrative Around Questions:

"[This class] helped me understand how I can approach my creative non-fiction without trying to fit it into traditional narrative arcs. I left with insight on how to shape my book with balance and depth. If you have a chance to take a class with Lilly, don't hesitate."

"Two writers basically had breakthrough epiphanies about their work during this session! Exciting to witness. Lilly did an excellent job of giving them room to share but also keeping things on track."