Overview

"We were searching for a writing method that was less like writing and more like living. I really want to write my next book that way, I wrote to you, as notes that can take in everything" —Sofia Samatar, Opacities

One of my favorite things to read is someone else's journal. Sylvia Plath's, Franz Kafka's, and Allen Ginsberg's, to name a few. From one entry to the next, the reader can feel the writers' urgency to make sense of emotional experiences both big and small. There is something charming about the way the quotidian lives alongside the exceptional; the immediacy of their voice; the unevenness of their attention; and the openness that they find in the form.

For some reason, when we attempt to write personal essays or memoirs, some of the rich, organic qualities that make up our private writing are lost. Our voice becomes more formal. We feel obligated to provide context. We get overwhelmed by having to sustain narrative focus on a single subject. We feel compelled to orchestrate a resonant conclusion. How do we recapture the freedom of our private writing in our essays and memoirs and, in doing so, approach writing more like living?

In this four-week course, we will look at how two books (Opacities by Sofia Samatar and Index Cards by Moyra Davey) take inspiration from the journal form to create cohesive and rigorous bodies of work. Each week, you will be given prompts that will help you: write about mundane and significant moments, create thematic connections between these fragments, and develop frameworks that cohere these disparate sections.)

Each class will be broken down as follows:

Review of key concepts from last class (10)

Craft talk (30)

Discussion of assigned text (30)

In-class exercise (20)

Workshop of exercises completed for homework (1 hour). ***Students will receive line edits and global feedback on their writing from the instructor each week.

Class I: We will analyze journal entries by various authors for their selection of detail, use of language, and arrangement of ideas. This week, you will be assigned to record specific observations on various topics.

Class II: We will discuss how Opacities uses the epistolary form to create an occasion for Samatar to share her reflections on her writing and reading. This week, you will be assigned to enter into real or imaginary dialogue with someone about your observations from Class I.

Class III: We will examine how Index Cards functions as a braided essay that weaves together different strands of thought. This week, you will be assigned to find thematic connections across your observations and write them as interrelated fragments.

Class IV: We will consider new journal entries alongside Opacities and Index Cards. This week, you will compare your private- and public-facing writing in order to fashion a more intentional authorial voice.