Class

4-Week: Discovering Your Memoir’s Lead Character

To write a book about someone, it’s best to know as much about that person as you can, right? To understand not just what they’ve done but why they did it. Therefore, if you’re setting out to write a memoir, you should get a grip on what makes you - the author, the lead character - tick.

We’ll take a deep dive into memoir writing with a special focus on making connections between the events, decisions, and influences of your life. Does that bold decision you made when you were 30 have its roots in something that happened to you when you were eight years old? Did a revelatory experience as a young adult set you on the path to where you are today as an older one? Often, a memoirist will make these discoveries of connections through the process of writing but we’ll work on how to identify them ahead of time to give you not just a framework for your memoir but a better grasp of who you are, who you’ve been, and who you may yet become. It’s not therapy, it’s a writing class, but that stuff is crucial for memoir and for living a life that makes more sense.

It’s a 4-week class, during which we’ll examine life events through the lenses of imagery, meaning, dialogue, sensory details, and more. You’ll have the opportunity to receive feedback on your work from the instructor and to share selections from your work-in-progress with members of the class. When it’s concluded, you’ll have a framework for your full-length memoir.

This is a friendly and welcoming course held in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere. It is meant for writers of all levels of experience or people who are just curious about themselves.

Please email [email protected] at least two to three weeks in advance if you have any accessibility requests for this class. This class takes place in-person, at the Loft at Open Book. Please see the Loft’s website for the most up to date information about the Loft’s COVID policies.