Memoir Writing Course

Creative writing. Express yourself with the written word.

COVID-19 update: arrangement of our courses

We are now delivering courses online and in-person. Please check the delivery format of each class before enrolling.

Please note that course materials (excluding prescribed texts) are shared electronically within 48 hours of course commencement. Printing is not available.

Writing your memoir may lead you into emotionally difficult territory. How much of what you write will be the truth? And how will you select what to write about?

Memoir writing can be a beneficial experience – be prepared for a journey of self-discovery and soul-searching.

This workshop caters for those wanting to write their life story, and to aspiring authors seeking publication.

In this writing your memoir workshop, we discuss how to choose a subject, plan, focus, and begin a memoir. We will explore the following:

• What makes for good subjects in memoirs
• How to start writing
• How to undertake research
• How to write about characters, setting, dialogue and conflict
• What to leave in and what to leave out
• How to tell ‘your’ story

We also explore the differences between autobiography and memoir, and address the idea of self-disclosure. There is time for multiple writing exercises in recalling people, places, and events, readings from published memoirs, discussion of the tension between emotional and factual truth, ideas about truth-telling for memoirists, one-on-one sharing and critique, and advice on publishing.

The goal of this course will be for you to draft the material for the first chapter or for a section of a memoir.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• envision and plan your story
• organise your time to write
• ‘write what you know’
• find your author’s voice
• develop your story and plot
• develop research techniques
• develop characters and settings
• write the beginning, middle and end of your story.

Content

• Delve into your past and explore your life for story ideas
• Define your audience and captivate them
• Flesh-out real-life characters and create believable dialogue
• Make your setting vivid and your plot gripping
• Develop your voice and distinctive style
• Edit and revise your writing through structural editing and copy-editing techniques

Intended audience

This workshop is suitable for people who feel they have a story to tell and a learning for all who read it. It also caters for those who are reflecting on their life and would like to capture their life stories.

Prerequisites

None

Delivery style

• Face-to-face, presenter-taught workshop
• Online workshop via the platform Zoom

Materials

Course materials are distributed electronically

Recommended reading

Barrington, J 2000, Writing the Memoir, Allen & Unwin, Australia.

Chisholm, A 2014, Writing a Mini-Memoir, Lulu Press Inc, USA.

Payne, J 2020, Writing Memoir: The Practical Guide to Writing and Publishing the Story of Your Life, Faydelis Press.

Van Cleave, R 2013, Memoir Writing for Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, Canada.

The following memoirs may also be of interest:

• Ernesto Che Guevara’s The Motorcycle Diaries (1995)
• Isobella Jade’s Almost 5’4 (2009)
• Julie Metz’s Perfection (2009)
• David Pelzer’s A Child Called It (2019)
• Elie Wiesal’s Night (1956)