Journaling as Part of the Memoir Writing “Toolkit”

Ruth Folit

Date: Friday May 14, 2010
Time: 11 AM PDT |12 PM MDT | 1 PM CDT |2 PM EDT
Cost: FREE FOR NAMW MEMBERS

[Content protected for Namw members only]

[Content protected for Renewed Namw Member members only]

Not Available for the Live Call?  NAMW members can access a link in the NAMW member area  within a week of the teleseminar to download the audio mp3 of this call!

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Writing your memoir is a great opportunity to not only tell your story to others, but in the process of writing it to learn from your own life. How to begin? With a journal entry!

A memoir is a series of your life stories which are stitched together to form a coherent whole. The memoir requires that you make meaning out of your own life events and then present the reader with a point of view, showing a change in your character, attitude, and behavior.

Journals, on the other hand, are a conglomeration of disparate vignettes, inner musings, quick character sketches, emotional outpourings, boring or anxious ramblings, overheard conversations, unrelated tangents, and poorly written sentences. However, think of your journal as consisting of the building blocks and the reference material from which you write your memoir.

Take a gallop back in time, to the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with author, ghostwriter and historian Kim Pearson, and discover how you participated in and contributed to the events and trends of those times. Yes, if you were 7 or 77, what you did, thought, felt, and witnessed mattered – to history! Anchor your memoir in time with historical context, adding depth and color to help your future readers understand “where you’re coming from.”

4-session Workshop Teleseminar

May 13, 20, 27, and June 3
Time: 4 PM PST  | 5 PM MST | 6 PM CST | 7 PM EST

Kim has divided history up into categories and each week we’ll explore the following in each of our 4 sessions:

• Economics & Politics (money and power colors everything)
• The Social Fabric (race, gender, morality – so much has changed)
• International Scene (we’re all in this together)
• Technology & Science (remember BEFORE the internet?)

What you will learn and receive from the 4-week teleseminars includes:

• The four vital reasons for writing and sharing your stories
• Kim’s simple and fun 5-step system that helps you use historical facts to give depth and context to your memoir
• Handouts (PDF) of extensive detailed timelines in each category (excerpts from Kim’s book Making History)
• Handouts (PDF) containing writing exercises — penetrating questions and suggested topics designed to get you thinking and remembering (excerpts from Kim’s book Making History). And time to do some of these exercises!
• Kim’s “Write to Remember Unrules” that jump start your writing and your memory
• Time to share your stories and listen to others share theirs.

Explore the many, many stories of our fascinating pasts – and how we ALL make up history.

Rates for Kim Pearson Workshop May 13 to July 1, 2010

NAMW MEMBER Don't forget to visit the Members Discount page when you purchase this workshop.	$207.00 *Sign-up before MAY 6th and get this workshop for only $197.00	Click here to visit the Members Discount page to finalize your purchase for this workshop.
NON-NAMW MEMBER Click here to become an NAMW member and receive a discount for this workshop.	$249.00

*Call-information and other workshop details will be emailed shortly before the class start date.

Kim Pearson is the owner of Primary Sources (www.primary-sources.com), a writing service helping others become authors of polished and compelling books, blogs and articles. Her books include: Making History: how to remember, record, interpret and share the events of your life; You Can Be an Author, Even If You’re Not a Writer; Dog Park Diary: the social round of Goody Beagle; and Eating Mythos Soup. In addition, she has ghostwritten more than 30 non-fiction books and memoirs, which tell the stories of a wide variety of people and cover a broad range of topics. Kim has been teaching highly-regarded workshops and teleclasses on writing and history for the past ten years.