Mastering Emotional Honesty with Lee Kofman
Learn strategies to hone your emotional honesty in fiction and memoir
Emotional honesty is a must-have for writers of both fiction and memoir, but such writing can be challenging and uncomfortable. Emotional honesty matters from the very beginning – when we decide what story to tell. It is also crucial in fine-tuning our writer’s voice, in capturing, vividly, the complexity of human emotions. Through a series of writing exercises and insights, this workshop will teach you how to ensure emotional honesty in your storytelling.
You will learn:
- About the concept of emotional honesty in writing
- To hone an emotionally honest writer’s voice
- Strategies to avoid moralising, sentimentality and nostalgia
- How to write authentic characters who ring emotionally true
- To describe complex emotions in concrete terms
Scroll down to see the full course curriculum and a list of frequently asked questions.
"Lee is a wonderful teacher. I found the exercises in this workshop very useful and will be applying a lot of the principles to my characters."
Until 12 February KYD Members receive a $50 discount on this course and all other KYD workshops. Become a member here, or contact [email protected] for more information.
Want to buy a workshop for a friend? Purchase a gift voucher here.
Your Instructor
Dr Lee Kofman is an Israeli-Australian author of three fiction books and two memoirs: Imperfect (Affirm Press, 2019), which was shortlisted for Nib Literary Award 2019, and The Dangerous Bride (Melbourne University Press, 2014). She is the co-editor of Rebellious Daughters (Ventura Press, 2016) and the editor of Split (2019, Ventura Press) which was longlisted for ABIA Awards 2020 – anthologies of personal essays by prominent Australian authors. Her short works have been widely published in Australia, the US, UK, Scotland, Israel and Canada. Her blog about writing was a finalist for Best Australian Blogs 2014.
Since 2006, Lee has been teaching fiction and creative non-fiction workshops and courses all around Australia, as well as mentoring writers, particularly those working in the genres of creative non-fiction and literary fiction. She is currently working on a book about emotionally honest writing practice to be published in 2021 via Ventura Press.
Course Curriculum
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StartIntroduction
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StartHonesty As An Artistic Mission
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StartMoral Outrage
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StartExercise: Overcoming Moralising
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StartThe Storms Within Us
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StartYour Teacher: Exposing My Internal Contradiction
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StartExercise: Arguing with Yourself on the Page
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StartSentimentality and Nostalgia
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StartExercise: Avoiding Sentimentality and Nostalgia
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StartIntroduction
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StartUrgency
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StartExercise: Looking for Urgency
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StartSubject or Subjects?
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StartYour Teacher: How I Chose a Writing Subject For All The Wrong Reasons
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StartDiscomfort and the Need to Understand
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StartExercise: Finding a Question
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StartFinding Your Voice
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StartKnow Your Worldview
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StartKnow Yourself
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StartExercise: Consider How Your Self Shapes Your Voice
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StartExercise: Sounding Like Yourself
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StartYour Unique Vocabulary
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StartExercise: Your Vocabulary
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StartTools for Developing An Honest Voice
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StartExercise: Free-flow Writing