Masterclass Info
Title: Developing the “Internal Narrative” in Memoir Writing
Description: What matters most in memoir is not “what happened” in someone’s life but rather the meaning-making the narrator does in relation to what happened. This meaning-making is often referred to as the “internal narrative” and tends to be more challenging for memoirists to develop. In this workshop, we’ll explore the idea of the “internal narrative” by examining examples of published memoirs, engaging in writing activities, and grappling with the core question memoirs must center: What meaning have you made of what happened in your life?
*While this workshop is ideally suited for writers working on any stage of memoir, it will also be useful for writers of other genres interested in first-person point of view narration.
Presenter Bio: Robert Petrone, Ph.D., is a creative nonfiction writer and an Associate Professor of English Education at the University of Missouri where he teaches classes on creative nonfiction and writing pedagogy. He is currently revising a coming-of-age memoir, Used Cars, which focuses on his experiences growing up in a large Italian Catholic, New York family amidst parental disability, secrecy, and shame.