Writing Our Secrets: A Hybrid Writing Workshop

Friday, December 8, 2023, 12-3 p.m.

Is it true that every great memoir, short story, and novel contains a secret?

Join us for a hybrid writing workshop, both in person (W. 68th St, NYC) & virtually, in which we discuss the uses of secrets in storytelling. Secrets propel stories, and a concealed fact—whether kept hidden or ultimately revealed—will transform a character’s life.

The power of secrets has shaped the stories of a wide range of authors, including Hila Blum (How to Love Your Daughter), Bonnie Jo Campbell (The Solution to Ben’s Problem), Alice Elliot Dark (Fellowship Point), Joshua Ferris (The Dinner Party) , Bonnie Garmus (Lessons in Chemistry), Katie Hafner (The Boys), Katherine Heiny (Bridesmaid, Revisited), CJ Hauser (The Crane Wife), Tara Ison (At the Hour Between Dog and Wolf), Julie Otsuka (Diem Perdi) William Pei Shih (Happy Family), Judith Rabinor, Judith Ruskay Rabinor (The Girl in the Red Boots: Making Peace With my Mother)  and Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water, among others.

If you saw Jessica Chastain's fantastic performance in A Doll's House, you know that keeping a secret upended and transformed her character Nora's life. 

We will help you put your secrets (or your characters’) secrets to work and turn them into stories. In our workshop, we will discuss how to boldly write about your own or your family’s secrets, if you are writing a memoir, and how to use a secret to propel your story forward, if you are writing fiction.

Choose from two options:

A) Writers can submit up to 10 pages (2,500 words, double-spaced in 12-14 point type) for line edits and written feedback: $350.

B) Writers can just show up without submission: $250.