Using the 5 Ws to Dive Deep & Tell True Tales

How do we turn our life journeys, physical travels or family tales into gripping stories with deeper (social, spiritual, cultural, historical, political) meaning? How do we craft compelling characters and evocative settings? How can research recover memory and create metaphor? Each day we will practice one of five practical elements (who, what, where, when, why) of creative nonfiction. Writing prompts will generate new material and flex revision muscles, supplemented by craft lessons, short readings, peer sharing and supportive discussion. All forms (personal essay, memoir, first-person journalism, epistolary) welcome, and you are encouraged to adapt exercises to work in progress.

Faith Adiele is author of two memoirs, including Meeting Faith, an account of becoming Thailand’s first Black Buddhist nun that won a PEN Award, and co-editor of Coming of Age Around the World: A Multicultural Anthology. Media credits include My Journey Home, a PBS documentary about her search to find her father and siblings, Sleep Stories for the Calm meditation app, and A World of Calm, a new series from Calm and HBO. Named as one of Marie Claire Magazine’s “Five Women to Learn From,” Faith resides in Oakland, California and teaches around the world. Visit her at http://adiele.com.