Courses

Whether you have attempted to write memoir before or not, this course is designed to give you a fresh start. Brain researchers tell us that memories aren’t stored intact but get “rewritten” each time we remember them. What does this mean for your story? Is it possible to include something you can’t quite remember? Can you write your own version of someone else’s story? We will start this workshop exploring how memory works and what that means for us as writers. We will work to dispel any critical voices that may prevent you from writing fully about your own life. From there, we will get practical, discussing the components necessary to draw a reader into a memoir, such as setting, character, and theme. Moving on to the issue of voice, we will read a variety of excerpts from such writers as Jo Ann Beard, Kiese Laymon, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Paul Auster. You will have an opportunity to share your own story and experiment with starting it from a fresh perspective. There are innumerable ways to tell a story, and by the end of the workshop, you should have a fresh start for your own story and the inspiration to keep it going.