1200-word Creative Blogpost assignment.

We've had a chance so far to respond analytically to some family memoirs; now it's our turn to try to make sense of something in our family. This assignment, though, is a bit different from other personal narratives you may have written. Because we have blogging capabilities, you can use images, videos, and links to tell your story.

If what you choose to write about is too personal to share with the class, we can arrange for you to pass something directly to me. I want you to feel comfortable confronting difficult issues if you feel that you need/want to.

Personal writing is not just about recapping events. As we've seen in The Liars' Club, Mary Karr selects specific events to suggest to us what she's come to know about her family and about herself. She's chosen to be a certain way, to have a wise, bruised, unflinching persona who can step back from events and look at them critically. This selection of who you are in writing is one of the most difficult things in nonfiction. You may say, “I'll be myself,” but constructing yourself and your family in words may be harder than you think. You'll want to pay special attention to the Phillip Lopate lessons that we discussed in class and to keep in mind what you liked about The Liars' Club and The Memoir and the Memoirist.

Oftentimes, amateur and experienced writers find that their real topic emerges only after quite a few hours (or drafts). In the last paragraph of an essay the writer may admit a crisis of faith or a pressing concern with a family member—a resentment or some other complication. We might find when reading each other's essays that the apparent topic becomes overwhelmed by some wound or joy that appears later. We will want to hear more about this sensitive subject, about this writing that seems more alive than everything else. That's why it's imperative to begin early, to revise, and to step away from our own writing to ask “What Do I Know?,” “Who Am I?” and “What Am I Trying to Say?”

I don't expect us to answer these questions in the next seven weeks, but we can make some investigations. We can look to write toward a better understanding of something about our families and ourselves that has always puzzled us. Or, we can unburden ourselves of a sadness, try to say something inventive about love, or both.

This particular assignment will probably build to your final, though that's up to you. That final essay will have some additional requirements, including some research and a longer word-count.

But, for now, I want you to generate writing about those issues in your family that seem most pressing. If nothing comes to mind, great: that's your chance delve into something specific, from your father's baldness, to your Aunt's hatred of cursing; from your brother's relationships with women (or men), to your own only-child situation; from your mother's love of race-cars to your step-family's strangeness.

There are very few restrictions. Remember that this is creative writing and this is meant to address issues of family. Beyond that, go for it. Write a play. Write a letter. Write a long poem, a series of poems, an epic song. Anything you like. No shortcuts, though. This is a great, sanctioned chance to be freaking artists, people. Let's make some family art.

We will work on this project in class on Feb 4, 16, and 18, but I encourage you to get started before that. Write 100 words and your mind will start going. You'll think about it once or twice a day and you'll be further along than if you start late. Good luck. Due Feb. 22nd by midnight.