Choose one of Mary's exercises to complete and post as your class project!

Whether you're writing about an embarrassing moment, a letter to yourself or describing a memory in such a way that we're right there with you, we can't wait to see what you write!

As a reminder, here are the exercises Mary walks through in the class.

Exercise I: Write a letter to someone you know about an event that embarrasses you
- Try writing it to different people and see how your voice changes (your boss vs. your mom vs. your best friend)
- How do you represent yourself? What are the different things you change based on who the letter is directed to?

Exercise II: Write down everything you remember about a childhood memory
- Think about a holiday meal and what you smelled, then expand from there
- What are you wearing? What do you feel? What do you hear? Who do you see?

Exercise III: Practice writing with interiority using the memory in Exercise II
- Address the child in your memory and use your feelings then and now to move through time
- What did you feel then, in that moment? How do you feel now, remembering? What do you wish for the child version of yourself?

Exercise IV: Write about a (non-traumatic) dramatic moment in your life from the other person’s point of view
- This exercise can help with perspective and to clarify your point of view
- How would that person think of you then? What about now? How did this moment affect them?

Resources:

Find Mary on her website and Twitter.

Also by Mary Karr:

Mary's recommended reading:

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings — Maya Angelou
Stop-Time — Frank Conroy
Dispatches — Michael Herr
The Woman Warrior — Maxine Hong Kingston
Speak, Memory — Vladimir Nabokov
Black Boy — Richard Wright

Explore more Skillshare classes:

Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact — Roxane Gay
Creative Personal Writing: Write the Real You — Ashley Ford
Writing Suspense: How to Write Stories That Thrill in Any Genre — Benjamin Percy

Jennie Ladew-Duncan

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