March 19, 2024

Kickstart Your Memoir

 

andrew-climbingBuilding Your Memoir Through Scene, Theme, and Takeaway

Mondays: Sept 16, Sept 23, Sept 30, Oct 7 at 4pm PST | 7pm EST

Cost: $99.00 for regular registration and $89.00 for NAMW members and WOW subscribers.
All calls are one-hour webinars.

Sign up and receive three cool bonuses too!
1. Free access to our most popular class to date—Wild as a Guide to Becoming a Better Writer.
2. A free copy (pdf or ebook version) of Linda Joy’s Journey of Memoir.
3. A chance to win an hour of coaching with each of us. We are each gifting one hour of our time to two lucky winners from among those students registered by Monday the 16th.

 

The Way It Works

Each week, we all call in through the conference phone number and check in. During the first class, you’ll introduce yourself and share your biggest writing challenge.

Brooke and Linda Joy will each present the topics for that day. In addition, we’ll suggest some writing that can help you focus in on the topics, and we send handouts via email.

 

This class is for you if:

• You’ve been wanting to write a memoir, but got lost after the first chapter.

• You have a draft of a memoir or a memoir-in-progress but you’re feeling a bit lost in the weeds.

• You’re ready to start thinking about prioritizing your writing in a new way.

• You’re interested in learning more about what publishers are looking for in a good memoir.

In this four-week course, memoir mentors Linda Joy Myers and Brooke Warner will help you! You’ll find out how to start, learn about what kind of memoir you’re writing, and begin a structure that works. Armed with these tools, you’ll end feeling more confident about your writing, and ready to keep going.


Course Syllabus

Class 1. Sept 16 at 4pm PT/7pm ET

Beginnings are important. How do we start with this amazing journey called a memoir? Your life is complex, there are so many stories. Luckily, there are basic ideas, tools, and concepts that help you get started and we will begin with a few of those.

• Understanding your theme, message, and scope.

• Figuring out your turning points, timeline, and action moments to give you a launching off point.

• Types and subgenres of memoir—and why you want to know what you’re writing.

• How to manage overwhelm when your story seems too big.

Handout: “Memoir Categories,” “Turning Points—Creating the Spine of Your Memoir,” and “My Turning Points”

 

Class 2. Sept 23 at 4pm PT/7pm ET

The balance of the emotional process of writing your memoir with the skills—getting stuff on the page that’s actually useable.

As you move through your ideas, topics, timeline, and turning points, you may hear that pesky inner critic niggling at you, or you may wonder about how good your memory is, or wonder how your family will feel about your truths. Structure and goals help when the process gets murky, so we are going to head toward those tools by the end of this session.

• Addressing what’s holding you back and giving yourself permission to just write.

• Sketching out your outline to give you motivation and momentum.

• Questions of truth and memory, and how to keep writing despite what you don’t know or don’t remember.

• The importance of themes and takeaways—why your memoir can’t just be the story of your life.

Handouts: “Outlining for Right-­Brained Creatives!” and “Taming Your Inner Critics”

 

Class 3. Sept 30 at 4pm PT/7pm ET

Getting your memoir off the ground means writing whatever you can to get started, and also planning your writing life. Planning and structure help to balance out the overwhelm of too many ideas and stories, or too many worries. There are so many great stories you have to tell.

• Freewriting—aka downloading—and its value for working through stuck places.

• How and when to start the actual writing of your chapters? Or how to manage what you already have if you’re drowning in notes, partial drafts, and half-written chapters.

• The value of process—scheduling your writing and having a writing plan.

• The power of the narrative voice and how you can harness it.

Handout: “The Narrative Voice”

 

Course 4. Oct 7 at 4pm PT/7pm ET

Craft—you hear that term a lot but it is so great to know that there are tools and tricks of the trade that can be learned that help you write a great story. We will discuss some of these today so you can keep writing your memoir.

• Basic craft of memoir—narration, scenes, and plot.

• How to use through-threads in memoir and why they help you create a cohesive and complete memoir.

• Why being relatable and transparent in your writing will gain you more readers.

Handouts: “Plot, Structure, and Narrative Arc in Memoir” and “The Power of Through-threads”

 

Regular Price: $99

NAMW Member Price: $89

WOW! Subscriber Price: $89