Begins Saturday, November 7th, 2026

Live Seminar via Zoom from 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET

🌍 Class Times by Time Zone: Los Angeles (PST): 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM / Chicago (CST): 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM / New York (EST): 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM / London (GMT): 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM / Berlin (CET): 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Now Enrolling! Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.

Instructor Bio

Instructor Blaise Allysen Kearsley is a Black-biracial writer, teacher, coach, and artist. She is the creator of the live show and magazine How I Learned, and a contributing editor for Vestal Review. Her writing has appeared in Catapult, Longreads, Memoir Land, Oldster, The Boston Globe, Midnight Breakfast, and elsewhere. Her work is included in five anthologies, including Mortified, Nonwhite and Woman, Bad Bone, and Oldster (the latter two forthcoming in 2027). She also wrote for several online outlets dating back to the early aughts that are perhaps not worth mentioning by name, and they definitely do not even exist anymore. Blaise was awarded a month-long residency at the Vermont Studio Center and has since been rejected by all the other ones. She has appeared as a panelist at The Gotham Storytelling Festival, and performed at The Moth, Risk!, The Liar Show, Story Collider, The Rejection Show, Literary Death Match, Cringe, and the Oblivio Reading Series. She's been teaching for Writing Workshops since 2022 and offering private workshops, write-ins, and editing and coaching services for over a decade.

Who is this class for?

This online nonfiction workshop is for creative nonfiction writers at all levels who have a work-in-progress or a planned project and want to deepen their understanding of how time and events move through personal narrative. If you're wrestling with structure, identity and persona, pacing, point of view, and knowing when to "kill your darlings," this seminar is for you. Through readings, exercises, guiding questions, and Q&A, you'll walk away with new ideas, inspiration, and direction.

What to expect:

Managing time is one of the trickiest requirements in personal narrative. It's how we create cohesion, find the shape and meaning of a story, and submerge an audience in it. But it raises so many questions: What's the main focus? Where does the story begin and end? How much of your lived experience do you include? This creative writing workshop guides you through the considerations and possibilities that help you find your answers.

You'll examine the art and craft of manipulating time using a double perspective — building the spine of your story with tension and complexity. Together we'll explore how this technique of two or more parallel narratives in direct conversation with each other hinges on essential elements like structure, scope, pacing, point of view, persona, and identity. The framework draws on works by writers Blaise returns to again and again, among them David Mura, Carmen Maria Machado, Alexander Chee, Mary Karr, Sven Birkerts, Etgar Keret, Jerald Walker, Sonja Livingston, Danzy Senna, and Darin Strauss, as well as her own experiments with time in her memoir and published essays.

By the end of this online writing class, you'll have new approaches to play with and a greater understanding of what a layered narrative can do.

What are the writing goals?

In this seminar, students will create a visual representation of a new story or a work-in-progress, along with a timeline sketch that maps how their narrative moves through time. Through readings, in-session exercises, guiding questions, and live Q&A, you'll develop concrete strategies for building parallel timelines that toggle between past and present. This is a craft-and-discussion seminar built around generative work rather than individual manuscript critique, so it does not include marked-up written feedback.

Readings

Readings may include excerpts from "What Is Creative Nonfiction?"; "The Fourth State of Matter"; "Where Memory Fails, Writing Prevails" (excerpt); The Situation and the Story (excerpt); and "Time" from The Art of Memoir (excerpt). Full essays will be sent the week before class where noted.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Understand how to manipulate time in memoir and personal essays using a double perspective and parallel timelines
• Learn how structure, scope, pacing, point of view, persona, and identity shape a layered narrative
• Explore time-bending techniques drawn from writers like Carmen Maria Machado, Alexander Chee, Mary Karr, and David Mura
• Create a visual representation of a new or in-progress story, plus a timeline sketch to map your narrative
• Leave with fresh approaches, inspiration, and clear direction for your work-in-progress

TESTIMONIALS:

"I love the readings we do, and especially that they so often feature writers of color. The written feedback from you is always so helpful and in-depth. The prompts helped me to develop a lot of content. I always look forward to workshop nights — it's a safe space to share." — Former Student

"I felt so often in college, that I was writing against these very confident men who were forthcoming about the problems within my work and style. Working in your group has been restorative and has allowed me to trust myself without fear of being torn apart." — Former Student

"Working with Blaise has made me a more confident writer. She's helped me to see my writing as a larger work, and creates a safe, inclusive, encouraging space to share and connect with other writers." — Former Student

"Blaise is such a skilled reader and editor, and her notes are always valuable. She offers wonderful perspectives, and assembles groups of writers with keen perspectives of their own." — Former Student

"I really loved the class. You treat every question with such a genuine desire to give the best possible answer and it made me happy every time. I admire that you focus on building people up. For someone like me, that means the world." — Former Student

"During quarantine, I had to show up for myself and others who counted on me, even when I felt like all I wanted to do was hide under my couch. Being part of this creative group of writers saved me." — Former Student

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $99 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Blaise Allysen Kearsley
• Begins Saturday, November 7th, 2026
• Class will meet once via Zoom on Saturday, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET
• Tuition is $99 USD.