Please join me at the exciting and informative 2019 San Francisco Writing Conference, February 14-18, 2019, the 16th Celebration of Craft, Commerce & Community. Presenters Nina Amir, Stephanie Chandler, Beth Barany, Mary Knippel, Jordan Rosenfeld, Helen Sedwick, Andy Ross, and Kate Farrell have all been guests with us here at NAMW. There is a rich display of everything you need to develop your writing life at this conference. And it’s tons of fun, on the Embarcadero in San Francisco.
I’m on two panels, one for memoir and the other for personal essay writing. I’m also very happy to be teaching a master class. The full writeup is below. Join me for a productive day!
Monday, February 18, 2-5 PM
Linda Joy Myers $99
Mastering Memoir: The Art of Weaving Truth and Craft
When you want to write a memoir, you find yourself drawing upon many layers of challenge and skill: telling your story, having it reach the hearts of others, and managing the labyrinth of doubts and fears about the possible consequences of revealing your personal truths. And you need to navigate how to explore the labyrinth where our stories take us.
There are several keys that can unlock your story: finding the structure of your story, writing scenes, having internal permission to write what you need to write, and locating the main growth points in your story.
Alice Miller, a well-known psychiatrist said that the path to finding a new perspective about our lives–one reason many people write a memoir–is to have a “compassionate witness.” By weaving truth and craft, you create new insights for yourself and the arc of your story will lead to meaningful takeaways for your readers.
In this class you will learn:
- How to discover the major moments that create the spine of your memoir
- Understand how to weave through time
- The power of writing scene to create insight and change in the writer and the reader
- How to manage the inner and outer critics that get in your way
- Ways to both focus deeply into your story and allow it to have its own path
The journey of writing a memoir offers you an opportunity to stand in the shoes of who you were in past while you also explore your story through the eyes of you now, the now narrator. Learning to writing strong scenes is an important skill that allows you to dip into the stream of time, to taste and know and feel that time once again, and bring the reader into your world. We will explore the power of scenes, how to find your most significant moments, sketch out your timeline, and practice silencing your inner critic.
Balancing the art of excellent craft with the freedom to speak your truth in your story is a way to surrender to the power of memoir and trust that your book will deliver a transformational experience to your readers.
