On Wednesday, Oct. 29, Wright State University hosted author Melissa Fraterrigo, as she spoke about writing nonfiction, her writing process and her recently published book, “The Perils of Girlhood.”
Welcoming the author
To begin, Fraterrigo was introduced by Erin Flanagan, professor of creative writing at WSU.
Flanagan teaches an Advanced Fiction Writing Seminar at WSU; this class was the primary audience for this event, but it was open to the public as well. Flanagan gave a welcoming introduction, and when asked about her thoughts on the event, she had nothing but positive things to say.
“It was such a pleasure hosting [Fraterrigo] on campus. She had such great insights on writing both fiction and non-fiction, and I'm glad our students were able to learn from her,” Flanagan said.
Fraterrigo's advice
Fraterrigo gave her audience many tips when it comes to writing nonfiction. Her first one was to use popular culture that was present during the time of the story to better create setting. There are many ways of accomplishing this, and Fraterrigo's personal example was creating a playlist of songs that she associated with the time of each essay she wrote for “The Perils of Girlhood.”
Fraterrigo even explicitly mentioned some of the songs used in her playlist in the first essay of the memoir, entitled “Coach Matt."
Her second piece of advice was to create distance from the story. It is important to take a step back from the work, or view it in a different light.
Following creating distance from a story, Fraterrigo told writers to use a different vantage point. Even writing nonfiction, a tip that helps Fraterrigo is to tell it like a story.
A method she shared with students is to write your piece by starting with “Once upon a time." This helps to grasp the story from another angle and helps the words to flow better when you have trouble getting them on the page, Fraterrigo explained.
One final piece of advice Fraterrigo shared when writing nonfiction is to utilize a format called braided essays. She explained that the type of writing is one essay with three separate parts that weave into each other. Each part gets its own time to be the front and center of the essay, much like the middle piece of hair in a braid.
The writing process
One of the most predominant topics of the evening was Fraterrigo's writing process. Many of the students had questions about how this memoir of essays came to be, and Fraterrigo gave a glimpse into what the journey was like.
Fraterrigo began writing her memoir during COVID-19. Previously, the author had only written fiction, until one day she felt as though she could not write stories.
Fraterrigo was “an author trying to make sense of life on the page.”
Each essay in "The Perils of Girlhood" is based on Fraterrigo's adolescent life as well as her journey now, being a mother to adolescent daughters.
“To write creative nonfiction, I had to be brave; braver than I really am,” Fraterrigo told the students.
She informed them that as she wrote the essays, she had to do so as if she were the only one in the room. Originally, these essays were written solely for herself, and she had no intention of getting them published. In fact, she also informed students that if she had known this memoir was going to be published, she most likely would not have written it.
Now, Fraterrigo has been to many different events, sharing these essays with others of all ages. She has been an influence and inspiration to many current and aspiring authors.
“The Perils of Girlhood”
As a final topic, Fraterrigo discussed some of the thoughts behind her newly published book. She revealed that “The Perils of Girlhood” was written as a way to help her daughters get through the trying times of adolescence by reflecting and writing about her own.
Mental health was the largest inspiration behind her work, as she wanted it to be a healing outlet for both her and her family. Fraterrigo also discussed how she has always been writing. She has kept a journal since the fifth grade.
“Writing was always a place I felt most myself,” Fraterrigo remarks.
When asked by an attendee if she used any sort of outline for this book or referenced old journals to remember specific moments, she explained that she has always been fixated on memory, and has always had the ability to remember very specific details of her life well. When writing the book, she used all the material from her memories of each experience.
Closing remarks
At the end of the evening, Fraterrigo took a picture with each of the students and Professor Flanagan. Additionally, any student who had a copy of “The Perils of Girlhood” with them was able to get it signed. Fraterrigo also had copies for sale.
The importance of her message became evident when considering the impact it had on the creative writing students in Flanagan's class. This can be seen through two students, Caleb Fasnacht and Allison Meyer, who shared their thoughts on Fraterrigo talk.
“Melissa Fraterrigo's generous talk was extremely useful for me, as a graduate student," Fasnacht said. "We all have these stories and pictures and ideas in our heads that mean a great deal to us, so Fraterrigo's advice on how to make these concepts more universal is an incredible tool for us to edit into something that [is] far more impactful in our professional, academic and personal writing prospects.”
“It was really insightful to hear about Melissa Fraterrigo's writing process," Meyer said. "She discussed different ways to incorporate personal experience in your writing and how to relate that experience to your readers. I’ve already implemented some of the advice into my next story.”
It is clear, with the overwhelmingly positive response, that the event was an all around great experience that Professor Flanagan and her students are sure to remember. Fraterrigo shared an informative and inspirational message, which was impactful for creative writing students and attendees.
