Member Teleseminar

Friday May 16, 2014

11 AM 12 PM   1 PM 2 PM

When you write a memoir, you’re caught up in a journey about your life, a journey that you try to capture in your book, but you can’t exactly predict the plot of this even though you know “what happened.” As you sketch out your memories, at first you think about your whole life, and can get overwhelmed with so many memories. But to write a memoir, you need to select and hone your memories, themes, and ideas and think about not only “what happened” but what the takeaway is for the reader.

The difference between memoir and autobiography can be a challenge to sort out. In memoir writing/storytelling, the theme is the ‘prize’ that writers need to keep as a focus.

What is theme? It’s the focus, the point of your story, the ‘feeling’ that propels the forward motion of your memoir. The ‘clothesline’ image is helpful:  Think of theme as a clothesline and then make sure all your scenes hang from it.

What you will learn in this teleseminar:

Autobiography vs memoir: what is the difference?

Story sequence/scenes in Autobiography: Linear story telling

Story sequence/scenes in memoir: Inciting incident

Scene in memoirs: What do you include?

Recollections that serve the memoir theme

Why “less is more” in memoir storytelling

Themes: The Heart of Memoir

Examples:

Against All Odds

David vs. Goliath

Redemption

Good vs. Evil

Bring your questions to this informative and important teleseminar–learn the secrets of success from an experienced editor and marketer, Marla Miller! If you are not a member  yet, check out the list of membership benefits here.

 Bio

Marla Miller’s freelance writing career began 25 years ago: her talk show at KUCI ran for 8 years. Her book All American Girls, U.S Women’s National Soccer Team was published by Simon & Schuster. Since 2003, she’s been leading MarketingtheMuse Workshops at writers’ conferences. She’s co-author of the eBook, Days Gone By: Barnaby Conrad’s Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and Deadly Little Secrets. Marla works with many memoir authors. Testimonials  can be found at MarlaMiller.com.

Southern California Writers Conference, workshop leader-2005-present.

Santa Barbara Writers Conference: Assistant Director, 2005-2009, workshop leader, 2003-present; Writer’s Digest Conference: Pitch Witch Bootcamp, 2013

Co-host: Indie Author, a Google+ OnAir show that spotlights ‘indie authors’ works and marketing strategies, 2013-present.

Host: Launching in May, 2014, Google+OnAir show, Literary Salon: Learning Prose From the Pros. The interview format show spotlights authors – from both traditional and indie -who discuss the path to publication.. Confirmed: Jane Smiley, Suzanne Redfearn, Caitlin Rother & Janis Thomas.

Website: www.MarlaMiller.com Google+ Marla Miller’s MarketingtheMuse

Google + Literary Salon: Learning Prose from the Pros

Twitter: @writersMAMA Facebook: Marla Miller’s MarketingtheMuse: Hooking Readers; LinkedIn: Marla Miller

Pinterest:http://www.pinterest.com/writersmama/