Dear Brave Writer,
Do you like writing personal essays? Are you looking for personal feedback on your essays? Do you want to start producing more essays for submission? If this sounds like something you’d like to explore, we have a
brand new class for you!
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1-2-3: Personal Essays & Weekly Feedback
starts on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. For each of the 3 weeks (1-2-3!), you can submit a new essay or re-submit an essay you’ve revised. You might also consider using pieces you’ve already written and use this class for personal feedback and a professional editor’s eye to polish them. At the end of three weeks, you will have at least one completed essay ready to go out on submission.
In today’s newsletter, Kandace Chapple discusses one of the main reasons that writers hesitate to write their own stories.
She shares an interesting method to make memoir and personal essay writing much easier. Find out more in the article below!
Write on!
Marcia & Angela
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Try 3rd First!
How Writing My Memoir in 3rd Person was the Key to Starting
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By Kandace Chapple
What’s the most terrifying word in the English language? “I” of course! It’s the one (only!) word that opens that door, that lets people in. And when it comes to personal essay writing, I is everywhere. It’s the reason a lot of writers balk at writing their own stories.
I felt the same way (and still do, sometimes), but I found a workaround that I want to share with you.
“I” vs. “She”
If it’s too hard to write in first person, (“I”), try to write in third person (“She”) to start. I wrote my entire memoir about losing my mother in third person, then went back and revised it to first person. Time consuming, yes, but, wow, it was some of the most healing writing I’ve ever done.
I was able to tell my story as if it had happened to someone else. It gave me permission to give my “character” all my emotions, mistakes and missteps. She dropped f-bombs, she tested her family, she failed herself, she failed others.
I named her Lainey. (I also made her gorgeous, limber and, was she ever, hilarious.) My memoir about losing my mother, which I could never really face, poured out of me. It was so freeing to watch myself from afar, on the page. What did she do? Why did she do it? Where was she going? I followed Lainey through my life like a screenplay.
Watch her go
One morning I sat down to work on my memoir–which I now thought of as Lainey’s book. I was tired of writing about grief, so, instead, I let her out to play.
I watched Lainey go for a bike ride at dawn. I watched a deer dart across the dirt road in front of her. And I watched as Lainey, with a small shout, hit it with her front wheel.
I watched the deer run off unharmed, and Lainey check her front tire for deer hair. Then, as I wrote, I noticed that a shaking, frightened Lainey was…
laughing.
The story was true. I had lived it a week earlier.
And in the space of that third person POV, I realized, with a shock, that Lainey – that I – had changed.
I thought I was just writing about that bike ride (Lainey looking terrific in spandex, naturally), but I saw it was so much more. The scene was about how fear had changed me. Because Lainey wasn’t the same Lainey anymore. She was stronger. She was braver. (See? Way easier to say someone else is braver and stronger than to write about yourself that way.) Lainey was fearless! When had that happened?
I kept writing in third person, and I kept making new discoveries about myself.
I is back
Later, I converted that bike essay to first person. I felt a little uncomfortable in doing so, but still, if it was true for Lainey, it was true for me. I had done those things, felt those things, had seen those changes, too.
I sent the essay off to a regional outdoor magazine, on a whim, thinking,
this is a long shot. It was an essay about fear. And deer. And bikes. Too weird, I figured.
But they liked it. They bought it.
I couldn’t believe it. But when I reread the piece that day they accepted it, I saw that it wasn’t the same story anymore.
In first person, the intensity had gone up, the story carried more weight, the reader had been let in with the single word, “I.” It wasn’t a story about a girl out on her bike anymore. It was a story about me, a real person in the world, writing about some universal truths – change and fear. It was an essay that I ended up loving all because I had let Lainey out to play on her bike, with no expectations at all for producing an essay.
Her turn
Start in third person, even a paragraph. If you aren’t sure, try writing the same sentence or scene in first person, then again in third person. Is there one where the momentum keeps going?
If third person gives you permission to go where you couldn’t go overwise, then run with it. You can always change it later. For now, it’s about getting your – her! – story on the page.
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1-2-3: Personal Essays & Weekly Feedback
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Instructor: Editor and Publisher, Kandace Chapple
Workshop Length: 3 Weeks
Dates: Wednesday, March 4, 2020 - Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Location: Private Facebook Group and email.
Feedback: Instructor feedback via email.
Cost: $125, which includes weekly assignments and individual feedback from the instructor. You will also be invited to a private Facebook group for student interaction and discussion.
Limit: 12 Students
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Description: Do you love writing personal essays? Are you looking for personal feedback on your essays? Do you want to start producing more essays for submission? This class is for you! The value of this class comes with working one-on-one with the instructor on your individual essay(s). For each of the 3 weeks (1-2-3!), you can submit a new essay (500-1,000 words) or re-submit an essay you’ve revised. You might also consider using pieces you’ve already written and use this class for personal feedback and a professional editor’s eye to polish them. At the end of three weeks, you will have at least one completed essay ready to go out on submission. This class is for those who feel comfortable with the personal essay format and want to further improve their writing skills. This class will offer writers growth, a sense of accomplishment... and the most valuable thing of all: accountability to be productive throughout the month!
Format: On Wednesdays, I will post tips on personal essays and submission opportunities in a private Facebook group and answer any questions. On Sunday, you will send in your (new or revised) essay between 500-1,000 words. By Wednesday, I will email back personal, detailed feedback, which will include notes on theme, emotion, dialogue and more, directly into the Word document. I will be sure to share my insights on the places where the piece worked well, as well as places that could get even better with a little push! For the third week, you will submit an essay to at least one publication.
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About instructor Kandace Chapple
Kandace Chapple is the editor and publisher of
Grand Traverse Woman Magazine, a regional women’s publication in Michigan. She has spent 15 years coaching writers in her publication and helping them polish their personal essays. Her own essays have appeared in
Writer’s Digest,
Chicken Soup for the Soul,
Literary Mama,
Motherwell and more. She hosts weekly #Friday500 coaching sessions where writers submit 500 words every Friday (or else!). She is also a well-known freelance writer for publications in Michigan, including
Traverse Magazine. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Education with a minor in Journalism and a Bachelor’s degree in Business. She loves to mountain bike on Northern Michigan trails, hike with her dog, Cookie, and spend time with her husband and two sons. Visit her at
www.kandacechapple.com.
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Upcoming WOW Classes & Workshops
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Below are some classes and workshops that are starting soon. Click on the links to be taken to a full listing that includes a week-by-week curriculum, testimonials, instructor bio, and more. Keep in mind that most class sizes are limited, so the earlier you register the better.
All the classes operate online--whether through email, website, chat room, or group listserv, depending on the instructor's preferences--so you do not need to be present at any particular time (unless a phone chat or webinar is scheduled and arranged with your instructor). You can work at your own pace in the comfort of your own home. If you have any questions, please reply to this email or email us at:
[email protected]. Enjoy!
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Starts Upon Ordering:
Submissions Consultation
| Return time: 1 Week | $25 | Submit up to 12 pages (4,500 words) of your writing and receive 5 or more suggestions of where to submit your piece and formatting for each market | Editor: Chelsey Clammer
Self-Study (Delivered within One Business Day of Ordering):
Starts the First Tuesday of Every Month (next date: March 3):
How to Write a TV Pilot
| 4 Weeks | $150 | Location: Email | Feedback: Instructor Feedback | Limit: 10 Students | Instructor: Christina Hamlett
Starts the First Friday of Every Month (next date: March 6):
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Not What But How: Improving Essays with a Focus on Craft, Not Content
You have a story to tell, but what’s the best way to tell it? Participants will read essays to explore different narrative structures. We’ll look at a number of craft techniques such as juxtaposition, narrative time, rhythm, subtext, and metaphor that can all influence the essay in subtle, yet very significant ways. We will discover how the way we decide to tell a story is just as important as the story itself.
4-Week Workshop with Chelsey Clammer
Feb 24 - Mar 22
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Creating the Five Minute Memoir
Imagine writing a book-length memoir as a collection of short memoir pieces—that take five minutes each for the reader (longer to write, of course). In our six weeks together you will explore six examples of short memoir, copy the successful strategies those authors have used, and at the end of our time together, have help putting your six memoir pieces together or seeing the six as stitches you can thread through longer writings and chapters.
6-Week Workshop with Sheila Bender
Feb 24 - April 5
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Strengthening Your Fiction
There’s a chasm between writing and writing well. In this four-week class, you’ll learn what’s bogging your story down, what you can do to lift it up, and simple techniques that will put you one step ahead of the sea of authors publishing books every day. We’ll cover story, scene, and chapter beginnings, unnecessary words and actions, deep points of view, inactive vs. active verbs, and the one thing you might be doing to hinder yourself when writing.
4-Week Workshop with Dawn Carrington
Feb 24 - Mar 22
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Workshops by Start Date:
February 7, 2020
Writing the Picture Book
NEW! | 4 Weeks | $125
| Location: Groups.io and/or email loops if needed or requested
| Feedback: Peer Critique/Workshop with Instructor Feedback on all assignments
| Limit: 12 Students | Instructor: Mindy Hardwick
February 12, 2020
Polish Your Memoir in 5 Weeks | 5 Weeks | $170
| Location: Private Slack Group
| Feedback: Peer Critique/Workshop with Instructor Feedback on all assignments
| Limit: 8 Students | Instructor: Dorit Sasson
February 19, 2020
February 24, 2020
Creating the Five Minute Memoir
| 6 weeks | $180 | Location: Private Google Group | Feedback: Detailed Instructor Feedback and Encouraging Peer Workshop
| Limit: 10 students | Instructor: Sheila Bender
Strengthening Your Fiction | 4 Weeks | $90 (
SALE! Regularly $150) | Location: Email | Feedback: Instructor Feedback | Limit: 8 Students | Instructor: Dawn Carrington
March 2, 2020
March 4, 2020
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Developing Your Authentic Voice: A Writing Workshop
Voice is a key component to successful writing and is so much richer than just choosing words and putting them into an ordered pattern on the page. Jamie Lee Wallace has said, “The true voice of a writer is the nameless fire that burns inside, turning up the heat, licking at the mind and heart until it becomes unbearable to wait even a single moment longer before putting pen to paper or fingertips to keyboard.”
4-Week Workshop with Melanie Faith
Mar 13 - Apr 10
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Writing Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction
If you’re currently writing or want to write a middle-grade or young adult novel, this is the course for you! Margo has written both, edited tons, taught workshops on how to write these, and shared novels in classrooms and assemblies with kids, too. In this course, you will learn what makes a middle grade or young adult novel successful, how to plot one, how to relate to the audience, and popular novels that kids and teens love.
6-Week Workshop with Margo L. Dill
Mar 31 - May 12
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Speculative Memoir: Working with Archetypes, Magic, and Myth in Creative Nonfiction
Speculative memoir is a dynamic, interactive, exploratory workshop designed not only to get you out of your box, but will encourage you to throw the box away, or at least put it in the attic, where it won’t distract you from the magic you want to create. We’ll engage in reading and discussion, and create a piece of writing, flash, short, or a little longer, to submit for feedback from fellow students and the instructor.
6-Week Workshop with Naomi Kimbell
May 4 - Jun 14
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March 13, 2020
March 27, 2020
March 30, 2020
March 31, 2020
April 6, 2020
April 13, 2020
May 1, 2020
Imagery Power: Photography for Writers | 4 Weeks | $155
| Location: Private Facebook Group and Email | Feedback: Instructor feedback and critique on all assignments
| Limit: 10 Students | Instructor: Melanie Faith
May 4, 2020
Writing is Revising: How to Become a Better Editor | 4 Weeks | $150, plus a 30-minute phone consultation
| Location: Private Website | Feedback: Weekly instructor feedback and edits with weekly or bi-weekly peer feedback
| Limit: 10 Students | Instructor: Chelsey Clammer
Blogging Made Easy
| 4 Weeks | $97 | Location: Email | Feedback: Instructor Feedback | Limit: 10 Students | Instructor: Karen Cioffi
May 25, 2020
June 1, 2020
June 8, 2020
October 5, 2020
November 16, 2020
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