Memoir Writing Course
With Eileen Casey. Starting 30/01/2019All of the individual modules in this online memoir writing course are accompanied by writing assignments. You will receive weekly written feedback on your assignments.
1. This module will introduce the memoir as a popular genre, particularly with regard to the twin elements conflict and suspense. Writing personal story can be simplicity itself yet the memoir form also has the potential for more complex expositions of the human psyche. Various techniques and approaches will be explored so individual memoir sparkles with style and personality.
2. Who are YOU Anyway? How do you feel about You as character? This module focuses on the ability, or not, to be scrupulously honest. It pays to pay attention and observe when the jumping off line isn’t always so obvious; to listen to the insistent whispers of what is worth remembering. Various and intriguing entry points to memory will be explored, a word Northern Ireland writer John Hewitt described as ‘loaded’.
3. Structure and Timeline. Memoir is a window onto a life. This module will demonstrate the many and various ways a memoir can be shaped together with the timeline(s) it inhabits. Framing memoir with deliberate precision ensures that there is nothing random or casual about the chosen material. What to leave out is often far more important than what to leave in.
4. Emotion: Dialogue: Setting: Theme. A balance of light and shade ensures a blend that is atmospheric, sensually invigorating and aesthetically elegant. This module is directed towards vital elements which support and enhance the memoir structure.
5. The Lost Property Bureau. Researching the past ensures a richly textured memoir backdrop. The devil is in the detail and the authenticating detail is paramount with memoir. This module looks at excavating the past, finding those hidden historical gems. Doing the required ‘homework’ is not just about writing every day. It’s also about having a healthy investigative curiosity.
6. Memoir Markets. Memoir outlets are many and varied. This final module highlights ways of getting memoir published.