Julia McCutchen
Is every memoir really a work of creative nonfiction? What is creative nonfiction? Can I truly be consciously creative when I write my memoir?
During this Telephone Based Round Table Discussion, Julia McCutchen, Jerry Waxler and Linda Joy Myers will discuss and be available to answer your questions about the use of the term “creative nonfiction,” the terms relevance in your memoir writing efforts and how to simply be conscious about creativity while writing your memoir.
Date: Thursday February 10, 2011
Time: 12 PM PST |1 PM MST | 2 PM CST | 3 PM EST, for about 1 Hour
Cost: FREE FOR EVERYONE (NAMW Members–The dial in details can be found below–if you can’t see them, simply login to the member area to view this post. If you are not an NAMW member, simply
Jerry Waxler
sign up for this free call by using the form near the bottom of this page).
[private_NAMW]Telephone Conference call-in number: (605) 475-4000
Telephone Conference call-in code: 198077#[/private_NAMW]
Not Available for the Live Call? Post your questions in the comments section of this page OR email them to info@NAMW.org.
NAMW members will be able to access a link in the NAMW Member Area to DOWNLOAD the audio mp3 of this call following the event.
Not a member? Sign up below and you will receive an email with a link to stream the audio from this call, within a week following the event.
Our sixth FREE Memoir Round Table Tele-conversation will be held THURSDAY February 10, 2011, at a SPECIAL TIME: 12:00 PM PST| 3:00 PM EST via telephone. Everyone is invited to attend these new FREE monthly Teleconversations. This month, NAMW President, Linda Joy Myers will be joined on the line with Julie McCutchen and Jerry Waxler as they discuss and accept your questions regarding Creative Nonfiction & What it Means for Memoir.
The format for this call differs from our Monthly Member-only Teleseminars in that it is an informal discussion Roundtable that you can be part of to exchange ideas with not only the experts but other NAMW members. Besides offering you a direct connection with experts–a benefit that will help you to develop your ideas and hone your skills as you write, edit, revise, and publish your memoir–you will have the opportunity to develop relationships within the NAMW memoir writing community.
Please join us for these special events that are open to the public. No RSVP is necessary for NAMW members. Simply login to see the dial-in information listed above. If you are not an NAMW member, simply sign up below! We look forward to meeting you there!
If you are NOT an NAMW member, sign up below to receive the call-in details via email AND receive a link to an audio recording of the call within a week following the call!
What is the best strategy in memoir for blending narrative content and authorial reflection, especially in a cildhood memoir when one is trying to move from child’s viewpoint to current awareness of past events?
I have read that in the world of agents and publishers, “creative nonfiction” and memoir are treated differently. Memoir is treated by agents as though it is fiction, meaning that it is proposed to an agent in a query letter with the expectation that the entire book will be written and polished before that process begins, while creative nonfiction is treated like other nonfiction and is submitted as a book proposal with sample chapters. Is this correct? if so, it seems to me that an author needs more specific guidelines for determining how to position the work. The discussion today was only marginally informative on the creative nonfiction front. My own draft memoir, in my view, became creative nonfiction when I found myself dissatisfied by the limitations of my own memory and realized that the story I want to tell is as much about the factual history of a place as it is about my personal experience of growing up there, and that I would need to undertake some serious research to develop that story. I think this determination is consistent with the view Linda Joy expressed, where journalism becomes part of the narrative, but not necessarily with the comments of the other panelists. I’d appreciate any feedback or insight. Thanks.