"The unexamined life is not worth living."
—Socrates
Read what students are saying about this class.
Writing is inherently a private, personal activity. Perhaps the most personal, most instinctive form of writing is the journal—the record of a life as it is lived. A journal is often the jumping off point for a more formal approach to life stories writing, but the initial inspiration can come from many other sources—the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, the discovery of letters, photos, or other family documents, or the simple desire to set down the details of a life for future generations. Even though you may be intimately familiar with the events and "characters" themselves, you may never have given thought to the actual process of turning these personal experiences and memories into "stories" that can be read and enjoyed by others.
In this workshop you will learn fundamental creative writing techniques that will help you explore personal and family stories and record life experiences in ways that are creative, entertaining and personally meaningful. This class encourages personal discovery and the development of individual style through the use of directed journaling, hands-on writing exercises, and constructive critical feedback.
This workshop will consist of six two-week sessions. Each session will include online lectures and associated textbook reading assignments, along with writing assignments incorporating the techniques learned in the session, which you will submit to the instructor for private review at the end of the first week of the session. During the second week of each session, work will be posted for group review and feedback. Throughout the workshop you will be able to participate in asynchronous lecture discussion and encouraged to take advantage of ongoing informal discussions and posted self-directed writing and creativity exercises. This is not a genealogy course, but we will introduce the basics of document research and techniques for "interviewing" friends and family members. (2.4 CEUs)
| Workshop length: |
Twelve Weeks |
| Textbook(s) to purchase: |
Writing Life Stories (by Bill Roorbach, Story Press) |
| Course Developer: |
Debbie Warne-Jacobsen with Susan Carol Hauser |
| Tuition: |
$350.00 |
Workshop Outline
Session One: Getting Started
The stuff life stories are made of; Exploring your memories; Focusing on sensory details; How detail evokes emotion in your writing
Writing Assignment: Select two memories—your earliest memory and an important memory from the past year and write up to 250 words on each one, including detail about sensory perceptions and the emotions they evoke.
Session Two: The Importance of Place
Setting the scene; Writing descriptively about place; Showing vs. telling
Writing Assignment: A 500-word scene from your life when "place" had a special significance. Use descriptive language to "show" the place to your reader.
Session Three: Real People Are Characters Too
Becoming a careful observer; Characterization techniques; Dialogue
Writing Assignment: Write a scene from your life in which someone important to you played a central role. Include dialogue that helps reveal that character to your reader (maximum 750 words)
Session Four: Every Family Has a Story
Anecdotes & oral histories; Interviewing friends and family members; Research
Writing Assignment: A family story, or collection of shorter personal anecdotes (maximum 1,000 words)
Session Five: Voice & Style
Putting your personality on the page; An introduction to style; Word choice; Clarity
Writing Assignment: To help develop your personal voice, write a letter to someone you're close to, telling about something important in your life (maximum 500 words); Then try to maintain that voice as you write the first draft of a complete life story (or a chapter of your memoir), up to 2,000 words.
Session Six: Making Your Writing the Best it Can be
Polishing your prose; Revising and rewriting; Making tough decisions about what to leave in and what to take out
Writing Assignment: Revised draft of the story or memoir chapter you wrote for Session Five, putting together everything you've learned (maximum 2,500 words).