Join me on Sunday, November 17, in Orillia, for a one-hour morning workshop, “The Inviting Door,” during which I’ll critique first pages of (anonymous) WIPs submitted in advance. The workshop will be followed by my presentation “Telling Secrets,” on the role of secrets — those of both writer and characters — in fiction and memoir.
Sponsored by the Writers’ Community of Simcoe County, this workshop and presentation will take place at Down by the Bay, 121 Mississaga St. East, Orillia. Fee for both is just $22.
Is there a deep-dark secret (maybe more than one) simmering in the story you want to write? No doubt there is. Secrets — those we choose or are forced to keep … or share … or expose — lie at the tangled core of many human interactions and therefore much of our memoir and fiction. In writing, they can seduce the reader, create conflict, inform character and behaviour, build tension, and propel plot. Secrets play a crucial role in Bible stories and in Shakespeare’s plays, just as they do in modern-day works such as Piper Kerman’s bestselling memoir Orange Is the New Black or Sarah Polley’s layered documentary The Stories We Tell. Whether kept for selfish or selfless reasons, secrets can have unexpected consequences, and lead to complications heartrending, humorous, or tragic. Robert Frost wrote, “We dance around a ring and suppose, / But the secret sits in the middle and knows.” Join editor and instructor Allyson Latta for this look at the psychology of secrets, what they “know” — and show — about human nature, and how they influence our writing.
Details here:
Telling Secrets: The Power of What’s Hidden in a Story
Hope to see you on the 17th!
An independent literary editor, ALLYSON LATTA has for more than 15 years edited fiction and creative nonfiction books by some of Canada’s most respected authors. Many of these titles have become bestsellers and some have gone on to garner international or national awards including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and Scotiabank Giller Prize. Allyson is a creative writing instructor and online mentor for University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies (Memories into Story; Memories into Story II, starting January 13, 2014) and leads workshops in the Toronto area. She has taught in Chile, and organized writers’ retreats in Canada (Ontario), the U.S. (Arizona), Costa Rica, and Grenada. She will return to Grenada in 2014. Visit Memoir Writing & More (www.allysonlatta.ca) for interviews, tips, and resources.