January 25, 2008
Dear Memoir Workshop Participant:
Thanks so much for signing up for my master class in the memoir. I’d like to take the time here to give you a better idea of what you’ve gotten yourself into, and of what you need to do to prepare for our time together in Taos.
We are a class of six. Each of you has completed a full draft of a memoir (some of you have revised this draft more than once). We are spending the week together because the draft you have still needs at least one more substantive revision. What do I mean by substantive? I mean that there are important risks that you still need to take with the book, risks that have to do with craft elements like structure, plot and conflict, emotional investment and self-implication (self-characterization), characterization—as well as other, more ephemeral craft aspects like reflection and retrospection. My memoir teacher, Vivian Gornick, often said, “Okay, but now you need to think harder.” By this she meant that the work wasn’t yet as relevant as it could be. This is one of the last and most important aspects of revision, where you attempt to speak to the inevitable question: So what? This is where you risk wisdom. Implicitly and explicitly, the real success of your work depends on your ability to say something about your subject. Every memoir has as its object the attempt to say something universal from a dramatic set of particulars. Many fine “middle drafts” are focused, tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end, but do not attempt this higher order of generosity--they don't yet step outside their limited set of particulars and speak to a general condition, to all of us. They don't, to put it another way, yet give the reader something they might need.
To prepare for the class we’re going to do two things: (1) read each other’s manuscripts carefully and respond to one another with a Workshop Peer Response (a response handout accompanies this letter). And (2) read two published memoirs and five essays on memoir and the nature of revision.
The Books:
In Pharoah’s Army by Tobias Wolff
Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick.
Both are excellent memoirs, and both, most importantly, have very different narrative designs which inform and guide the book.
The Craft Essays:
You can download all of these essays from my website.
You should read all of this (each other’s manuscripts, the two published memoirs, the craft essays) in advance. You don’t want to spend your time holed up in your hotel room reading when you could be talking to other writers, attending readings and panels, and exploring Taos. The published memoirs and craft essays will give us points of reference as we discuss your manuscripts, and hopefully, will serve as models of emulation as you consider your manuscript’s most challenging revision concerns.
Read your peer’s manuscripts actively, all the while letting the author know, in the margins, when you are particularly moved, or lost, or if you think something (a scene, a reflection, a characterization) needs to be more developed or more complex. Always remember to be conscientious and constructive. But also take a risk, say something that will help the author make their manuscript better, but say it in a way that it can be received well. And remember, this is still a work in progress. As you're reading, always keep in mind what the memoir might still become, not just what it already is. When you’re done reading, write a Workshop Peer Response . Our written responses will help us to begin a conversation about the drafts. You’ll give your responses to the authors after we’ve had a chance to discuss their drafts.
You mail your memoir drafts to me and to the other members of the class postmarked no later than Wednesday, May 14th . Once you’re enrolled in the class, send me an email at gmartin@unm.edu , include your home address, and I’ll compile a workshop snail-mailing list. I’ll send that list back to you, and you can mail your manuscript to everyone in the group.
Throughout our week together, we will be workshopping your drafts in a mutually supportive atmosphere, in the context of a larger discussion about the genre of memoir and the nature and challenges of revision. Each of you will also meet with me for a individual conference, according to a schedule we’ll set up together once we’re in Taos.
That’s all (and that’s plenty) for now. I’m really looking forward to our time together. See you in Taos.
Greg
Summary of Workshop Preparation
Note: Don’t make extensive or last minute revisions to your manuscript after you send it out, with the expectation that we will be able to read these changes during our week together. Make all those revisions and last minute changes before you send it to us.