memoir writiing workshop

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writeit/memoir/index.htm
Step-by-step help on brainstorming, drafting, reviewing, revising, and polishing your writing!


http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/13-FE-AnnetteFix.html
Drawing From Your Life to Create
 
Excerpt:
Why Memoir?


With the continuing explosion of reality television, there is a good argument for the belief that audiences want to know about the emotions, experiences, and reactions of real people. This is what memoir delivers.

Naysayers may point their fingers at the me-me-me of memoir and brush it off as an egomaniacal romp into reverie and self-reflection. And some of the memoirs out there are exactly that. Just as some fiction is a forum for an author’s pseudoliterary pontification. Thankfully, that is not the case with all memoirs and novels. Good stories exist in both genres. Strive to be one of the good ones.

The “Who Cares” Question

"Who cares" is the most basic question every writer should ask before even writing a book—it's not relegated only to memoirs. It's about knowing your audience and having elements in your story that are universal.

The reader of a how-to guide, a cookbook, or a computer manual, is in search of useful information. The reader who chooses a novel or memoir wants to be entertained. Offer an interesting premise and deliver an entertaining story and you will have solved the “who cares” question.

“It’s about knowing your audience and having elements in your story that are universal.”

Begin at the Beginning

If you want to write a memoir and you don’t know where to start, begin by taking a look at your life. Ask yourself these basic questions to help find the direction of your story. Pull out a piece of paper (or open a blank document) and answer these questions.

•How did I get to where I am now?

•What experiences in my life have shaped my character?

•What do I believe from the core of my being? And why?

•If I could tell only one story about my life, what would it be?

The questions are designed to be broad enough to help you identify a throughline that can be used as the first step to discovering if you have a story you truly want to tell.

The next step is to go on a scavenger hunt for old photos, diaries, or the memory box full of trinkets, letters, and souvenirs from your past that you have tucked in a corner of the garage. Sort through these treasures, keeping a notebook and pen handy to jot down the memories and story ideas as they come to you.

Crafting a memoir doesn’t necessarily require you to dive into your past. You can begin your story with an incident that is still warm and recent. Mine the details of your lifestyle, career, culture, family life, or anything unique to your experience that can be used as the base for your memoir.

Did you grow up on a ranch in a rural area or a tiny apartment in a big city? Are you a police officer or the wife of one? Have you escaped from an abusive relationship? Are you languishing in an unfulfilled life? Is your family hug-me sweater dysfunctional or Norman Rockwell perfect? No matter what your situation is, past or present—there is something in your life that is story worthy.

Readers will be drawn to your story for different reasons: some may identify with you and your experiences; some will want to live vicariously through your story to see a way of life, culture, or career they’ve never experienced; some, like rubber-neckers at an accident, will want to see what happened in your train wreck of a life....