Prose Workshop: Based on a True Story: Your Personal Life on the Page

From moments of wonder to woe and everything in between, experiences from our own lives make for deeply compelling stories. This workshop will help you uncover the personal story you were meant to tell and how to use that as a jumping off point, whether you decide to keep it rooted in fact or leverage it as foundation for a fictionalized world. We’ll explore techniques related to the craft of writing both ways, including exercises to help you turn that experience into an extraordinary story. We’ll also review and discuss excerpts of works from other writers to inspire possible ways to approach, provide a better understanding of similarities and differences in formats, and clarify parameters to keep in mind. Participants will work on story drafts, share their work in a safe, supportive environment, and leave with specific tools for taking their work to the next stage.

This flexible workshop is open to writers of all levels, from those who already have some initial ideas in mind to those who have no idea where to begin. The only prerequisites are coming with a curious mind and open heart.

Class Times

Sarah Grace McCandless

Sarah Grace McCandless is the author of two fiction novels, Grosse Pointe Girl: Tales from a Suburban Adolescence and The Girl I Wanted to Be, both published by Simon & Schuster. A flash memoir edition of Grosse Pointe Girl was previously published by Future Tense Books. Her work has also appeared in numerous collections and journals, including Drawing Lines: An Anthology of Women Cartoonists (Dark Horse Comics), Cassette From My Ex: Stories and Soundtracks of Lost Loves (St. Martin’s Press), and the Past Ten journal.

A Writing by Writers Mill House Residency recipient, Sarah Grace has facilitated creative writing, fiction, and memoir classes at Gotham Writers, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the Cape Cod Writers’ Workshop. She has adapted her second novel for the screen and is currently working on several new projects, including a scripted series and a memoir.

Sarah Grace is also the producer of #1 New York Times best-selling author and Emmy® Awardwinning producer Kwame Alexander’s podcast Why Fathers Cry, inspired by his memoir, Why Fathers Cry at Night. She has previously served as both a producer and performer for live storytelling events including Mortified and Backfence. Sarah Grace currently resides just outside of Portland, Oregon, with her Corgi-Terrier mix, Gilda Radner. More info at SarahGraciously.com