Writing for an audience is very different from writing for yourself.
A journal or diary isn’t meant to be seen by others, but a book is meant to be shared. There are tried-and-true techniques that help you turn your lived experience into a narrative that other people can relate to and learn from. You’ll learn the tricks that make a reader feel they’re right there beside you, and you’ll get the feedback that will help you shape your story to deliver the meaning, impact, and message that you want to share.
In this six week course, you will:
-
Learn and practice the components of narrative nonfiction and the writing techniques that make a story memorable and compelling.
-
Define the theme or focus of your book that will make it stand out in the market.
-
Become aware of your own writing voice, process, and style.
-
Make substantial progress on the beginning of a memoir, or chart a path to finishing a book you’ve already begun.
-
Learn how to receive constructive feedback on your own work, and learn to self-edit and more.
INTRODUCING...
Crafting a Compelling Memoir
At the end of this six-week course, you will have honed your writing voice, and gained valuable feedback to transform your personal experiences into a compelling memoir that resonates with readers and stands out in the market.
The Schedule
This training will take place over Zoom for the course of six weeks. Each week, you'll be able to participate in a 2-hour webinar & training covering varying topics relevant to writing your story. See below for the content we'll cover.
Sessions weekly on Wednesdays at 6 PM CST from 10/2-11/6
Week
What’s the Story? Focus, Theme, Message, and Marketing
1
You will:
-
Decide on a compelling topic for your memoir
-
Define your central focus and message
-
Determine where your book will appear on the shelf
-
Narrow down and identify your theme
-
Characterize your ideal reader
-
Identify yourself as a narrator
-
Familiarize yourself with your voice
Week
Navigating Ethical and Emotional Boundaries: Memory, Research, and the Special Challenges of Creative Nonfiction
2
In this session, you will:
-
Recognize the challenges of writing about personal experience and actual events
-
Explore how to reconstruct memory & fill in gaps
-
Learn how to fact check your own experience— and that of others
-
Practice using research to establish setting and support events
-
Become aware of the legal and ethical guidelines for portraying real people
Week
The Building Blocks: Developing Character and Writing Scene
3
You: will:
-
Learn techniques for portraying real people as dimensional, well-rounded characters with desires and flaws
-
Practice examining motive and character wants
-
Learn the trick to recreating authentic dialogue
-
Identify the basics of building scenes and see why scene is crucial to your story
Week
Keeping the Reader on the Hook: Structure, Plot, Tension, and Pacing
4
In this session, you will:
-
Experiment with narrative structures that can frame your story
-
Learn how to connect scenes and control pacing
-
Practice plot mechanics that move a story through the levels of inner and outer conflict
-
Establish the hook that keeps readers engaged
-
Learn how to vary tension for maximum suspense
Week
Diving Deep: Theme, Language, and Imagery
5
In this session, you will:
-
Confirm and configure the theme or argument of your work
-
Discuss the structure of your work and how it conveys your message
-
Balance your tone to teach without preaching
-
Layer your work with metaphor and imagery that deepens your message
-
Practice shaping language for maximum impact and readability
Week
Learning to Share: Self-editing, Critique and Revision
6
In this session, you will:
-
Learn how to discern and evaluate constructive feedback
-
Practice incorporating feedback into your work
-
Prepare a checklist for revising your work
-
Learn how to prepare your work for submission
-
Discuss how to work with readers, editors, and critique groups
-
Practice pitching your work
Meet Misty Urban
Misty Urban is a college professor, professional editor, and published, award-winning author. She holds a PhD in medieval literature and an MFA in fiction from Cornell University. She has over twenty years of experience in classrooms, from community college and small liberal arts colleges to research universities and online universities, and her teaching has been recognized with multiple awards for excellence.
Misty’s writing has received awards and accolades in multiple genres. Her dissertation won the D. Simon Evans Award and her short stories have garnered numerous honors. Her first collection of short stories won the Serena McDonald Kennedy Award and her second was a finalist for the Indie Star Book Award. Her creative nonfiction has been published and reprinted around the world, in print and online, and has been nominated several times for Pushcart Prizes and Best of the Net awards. Her debut novel, a contemporary fantasy, won a BookFest Award as well as a 5-star Reader’s Favorite designation. Her most recent
publications include contemporary and historical romance.
In addition to a long-running editing and coaching business, Madwriters, which has helped many authors make their publishing dreams come true, Misty is the founding editor of Pearl City Press and manages her own imprint, Canty Dames. She is a former reviewer for Publisher’s Weekly and currently reviews for BlueInk and the Historical Novel Society.