Finding the Story with Sarah LaBrie

“How do I find the heart of my story? Where is the right place to begin my book or essay? How do I create a vivid scene out of research notes or memories? Why does my story lose steam right in the middle? How can I create a satisfying ending?” Join a six-week workshop with award winning television writer, memoirist, and opera librettist Sarah LaBrie to delve into these essential questions about your book or longform essay.

Award-winning television writer, memoirist, and opera librettist Sarah LaBrie will lead the class through a series of generative exercises and workshops using screenwriting structures to help you discover the structure of your book or essay.   

The class will discuss common story structures and techniques drawing from Sarah's years in television writer’s rooms such as Minx (Starz), Blindspotting (Starz), Love, Victor (Hulu) and Made for Love (HBO Max), as well as her experience moving between genres from her award-winning memoir to libretti performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Apollo Theater to essays published in The Guardian, Guernica, Joyland, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Electric Literature.  Whether you are writing a novel, memoir, or work of non-fiction, this workshop will help you unearth the core of your story and create a structure to tell it.  

This class is appropriate for writers at any stage and in all genres.  Participants may choose to workshop a chapter, outline, or book proposal, or use their time in class to talk over the main ideas for their story with Sarah LaBrie and workshop participants.  The workshop includes written feedback from Sarah LaBrie.  

 

Sarah LaBrie is the author of No One Gets to Fall Apart, a 2024 New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the Writers League of Texas Book Award. Her television credits include Minx (Starz), Blindspotting (Starz), Love, Victor (Hulu) and Made for Love (HBO Max). She’s been granted fellowships by Yaddo, Macdowell and the Austin Film Society and is an alumna of Brown University and New York University’s MFA program in fiction.