Flathead River Writers Conference: Masterclass with Robert Petrone

Developing the “Internal Narrative” in 1st Person Point of View (in Memoir, Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, and Personal Essay)

Presentation 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.

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.

Additional Workshop:
Title: Writing about Your Writing as an Approach to Revision

Description: Getting a first draft done can be challenging enough. Revising it, however, can often feel even more daunting. This workshop focuses on a process writing about writing that supports the necessary “re-envisioning” of your work to open new possibilities for substantive revisions. In this hands-on workshop, participants will engage in a series of writing prompts designed to help them see their work anew and come up with a plan for revisions.