Sunday, October 22, 2023 from 2 to 4 p.m. (EST)/11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (PT). We write because we have stories to tell. And some of those stories are about us. Arguably, even fiction writers dig deep into their own experiences for their plots—although they change the details. But what if the details are true-to-life? How can you be comfortable writing a memoir or a personal essay if you are essentially a private person? Or if the story involves someone else? Or if it might make people angry? How can you know if your topic is “important” enough to be relevant to others? All of these questions pertain, but they all have answers that can speed you on your way to effective autobiographical prose. You may be writing to grapple with your own experience, but readers also say that this kind of writing has enormous power in helping them validate their own life challenges. For this two-hour seminar, bring a topic you long to write about but feel might be too risky, and bring all your questions, from creation to publication. Your instructor, Jacquelyn Mitchard, has written personal autobiography for many magazines and anthologies, including Glamour, Newsweek, The New York Times, O The Oprah Winfrey Magazine, and more. She will guide writers on striking that happy balance between cursory and cringeworthy.