What if you just didn’t worry about it?

What if you didn't worry about remembering it all 'correctly'? What if you didn’t worry beforehand about whether it was going to turn out to be fiction? What if you didn't worry your ex was going to sue you or if the NDA was still in place? What if you didn’t worry each time you sat down to write that you were offending your mom or that your sister would never speak to you again? What if all you had to do was sit down and write whatever you wanted without worrying about anything at all? In this workshop we will spend four weeks writing your story as you want to write it, riding the wave of creative discomfort along the way. We will discuss the consequences of writing about real people in real time — the legal consequences, the personal consequences, the professional consequences — and we will examine how other writers have approached these obstacles (Anne Lamott, David Sedaris, Alex Auder, Margo Steines) in their own work. Each week we will read a published piece by Molly Rosen featuring a close family member or friend and review if/how the relationship changed because of it. Together we’ll work through the issues that get in the way of you telling the “true” story you want to tell — the good, the bad, the ugly. Weekly free-writes with Teaching Assistant Misha Sumar will help you dive into your memories and generate without overthinking.

Each class will be capped at ten people. Our sliding scale options welcome a more diverse participation. If the cost of this course exceeds your financial capacity, please email info@brooklynwriterscollective.com and we will try our best to accommodate — if not this session, than a future one. 

What You’ll Get:

• Weekly IRL free-writes with TA Misha Sumar.

• A syllabus featuring essays, writing prompts, reading + listening recommendations.

• An invitation to the BWC Google Group, a digital community comprised of all students from the past 6 years.

• Access to pre-recorded Brain Break interviews with Molly Rosen Guy and Alex Auder, Margo Steines, Melissa Febos, and more.

• One 30-minute creative ideation session with Molly Rosen Guy.

THURSDAY MORNING WORKSHOPS: 9:30 am - 12:00 pm EST January 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th

TUESDAY FREE WRITES (optional) meet from 9-10 EST