Welcome to my virtual home! I am Kimberly Crum, owner and instructor at the Shape & Flow Writing studio. I have always loved listening to stories and interacting with storytellers. This is probably why I entered the social work profession, before becoming an essayist and educator in mid-life. Now, I guide aspiring writers in the retelling of true stories, for publication or posterity.
I want to improve my craft within a writing community.
I want one-on-one help for my writing project.
I want an editor to help me develop and polish a manuscript.
I first read about the hermit crab in Barbara Kingsolver’s essay collection, High Tide in Tucson. In this true story about a stowaway crustacean, Kingsolver creates a lively lyrical first person narrative, in which the crab becomes a metaphor for how creatures habituate to their environments. Indeed, the hermit crab makes good metaphor. When you feel cramped, find a new shell to call … Continue reading Consider the Lowly Hermit Crab
A man at a party praised my husband for his determination to read all three volumes of Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past — a literary tome, which “[in]several thousand pages, retraces the course of [the Frenchman’s] adolescence and adulthood, democratically dividing his experiences among the narrator and a sprawling cast of characters.” “Remembrance of Things … Continue reading Of Madeleines, Monuments and Memoir
Fred Rogers and his neighborhood exposed my secret skeptic. Perhaps it is the Virgo in me, or a tendency learned in my family of origin. But I am a doubting Tomasina. Will trust. Must verify. No one can be that nice, I thought, while watching Liz watch Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. My preschool daughter kept her appointment each weekday … Continue reading It’s a Beautiful Day for a Neighbor
In his free-wheeling essay, “The Meek Shall Inherit the Memoir,” writer Harrison Scott Key describes his reluctance to write life stories, afraid he might be considered a narcissist or a bore— “I mean, who did I think I was? Who would want to read about me? . . . How do I map the expressionist strangeness of my inner life … Continue reading ON CREATING YOURSELF
“Kim’s classes at Shape & Flow have taught me to read for deeper meaning and better understanding of the writer’s intention. I have enjoyed learning to write memoir that has become so meaningful and important to me!”
“Kim’s attention to each person’s voice, tone and detail is amazing. There’s always homework, which keeps our minds going. And we learn not only writing but how to support each other.”
