Part Monster: Writing ‘Craziness’ [Katherine Standefer]
Intermediate/Advanced | Writers explore the craft questions of writing “crazy,” from the quiet stutterings of mental illness to the way violence echoes in us. Beginning with an overview of how trauma and shame interact with writing, we’ll discuss bearing self-exposure, building complex characters, avoiding melodrama, and using syntax to bring readers into hard-to-render experiences like escalation and wobbliness. Writers will read Terese Marie Mailhot, Kiese Laymon, and Sarah Fawn Montgomery, leaving with the start of a new essay.