Online Course

Thirty-Minute Memoir

September 12 - November 20, 2022

Level Fundamentals

Manageable daily writing assignments will help you break down the task of writing a memoir.

Additional Information

Patterned after our popular Boot Camp course, this class is designed to help break the potentially overwhelming task of writing a memoir into manageable daily writing. Each week will focus on a different aspect of memoir writing, from opening chapters to scenes involving dialogue. Monday through Thursday, you will be encouraged to post 300 words of new writing, and at the end of the week you will choose 800 words from the week’s work (or elsewhere) to submit to your instructor for comment. This course will help you tackle your memoir by providing firm deadlines, writing exercises, and weekly feedback. Along the way you’ll also develop the habit of writing regularly.

In order to receive instructor feedback each week, you must complete the following activities:

  • post 300 words per day on at least 3 weekdays
  • post a paragraph of comments on the work of at least two fellow students at some point during the week or weekend

Course Schedule

Week 1: Find Your Focus

A memoir needs a focal point on which the writer can build, but many writers dive into their first draft without knowing what their focus is. During Week 1 you will identify the focus of your book (or think of ways to fine-tune that focus on an existing project). The writing this week will help identify and hone the central idea of your memoir.

Week 2: The Shape of Your Narrative

A book-length memoir offers many possibilities for structure: should the narrative be chronological, braided, retrospective? You will explore possible shapes for your memoir, and this week's writing prompt provides options for trying out (or polishing) different structures.

Week 3: Points of Tension

A memoir needs an overall story arc, but it must also have points of tension throughout that keep the reader hooked from chapter to chapter. This week’s lecture and writing will explore ways of creating tension at different points in your larger narrative.

Week 4: Summary & Reflection

Two of the most pivotal elements of nonfiction are summary and reflection—this week, we'll study the difference between the two, as well as how to use them effectively.

Week 5: Scene

Scene, in memoir, is both necessary and challenging. We’ll study how and when to use scene instead of summary to both illustrate and engage the reader. We’ll also look at descriptive detail.

Week 6: Time Travel

As we enter the second half of the course, we delve into “time travel”—the intriguing literary elements of flashback, flash-forward, and foreshadowing. These devices provide context to the narrator’s state of mind and contribute to narrative flow, but they also help shape a memoir’s theme.

Week 7: Writing about People

People are the most important element of a memoir, in that a reader’s interest in all the book’s events is founded on his or her interest in the people who lived through those events. During this week, we’ll consider how to write about people in ways that readers will find engaging.

Week 8: A Sense of Place

The setting in which your book takes place can be an essential part of the story you want to tell; in many cases, the setting can be a character in and of itself. This week, you will learn how to create a sense of place in your memoir.

Week 9: Research

While personal experiences are the core of any memoir, research can play an equally important role. Memoir research can range from information gathering on the internet to in-depth discussions with friends and family, and we’ll look at ways to gather research information and use it in your memoir.

Week 10: Revision and Your Story’s End

In the final days of the course, you will learn strategies for revision and revise some pieces from earlier in the class. We will also address the essential question: How will your book end? Writing without any sense of an endpoint often causes authors to get stuck halfway through their book, so during this final week, we’ll discuss some possibilities for endings.

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Course Instructor

Course Registration

$485.00

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Please Note

It is not uncommon for classes to fill up before the end of early registration, particularly in the last few days before the deadline. If you know for certain that you wish to take a particular class, we recommend registering early. If you'd like to be added to a waitlist for a sold-out class, please email our director of education, Sharla Yates, at [email protected].

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Testimonials

I enjoyed reading other peoples work and getting feedback about my own work– the handouts/video links and class lessons were also very informative and relevantly paced to the give structural guidelines.

Catherine O’Neill