About this Event
Do you have a story from your life you want to share? Are you interested in writing a memoir or personal essay? Or perhaps you want to learn how to draw from your experiences to create interesting fiction?
Over four weekly 2.5 hour sessions, this intensive online course will introduce you to concepts, techniques and useful exercises for drawing from your own personal experiences to write engaging prose (autobiography, memoir, personal essay, autofiction, fiction).
Each session will involve group discussion around a topic and set readings, as well as responding to a variety of inspiring and relevant writing exercises.
Weekly writing assignments will guide you in writing a complete piece of prose, from blank page to finished draft.
We welcome writers of all experience levels, from complete novice to published professional.
Early Bird Ticket - £48 (available until midnight Aug 1st)
General Admission - £60
Concession - £52
All Sessions from 6-8:30pm GMT via Zoom
Week 1 - Aug 29th - The Self as Source
Our experiences can be a continuous font of writing inspiration, but how best to get this inspiration flowing? We’ll use automatic writing, memory, sensory associations, self-portrait and journaling to mine our lives for the raw materials that will become our final pieces
Week 2 - Sept 5th - The First Person
When we write as ourselves, the first person voice is still a ‘character’ with a voice that needs to be honed. We’ll look at developing our personal writing voices, as well as how the first person engages with tense, perspective and interiority.
Week 3 - Sept 12th - Fact vs Fiction
When does autobiography become auto-fiction become fiction? Why might we want to fictionalise our real experiences and why might we want to stick to the ‘facts’? Can fictionalising elements of ourselves or our lives actually help us get to the ‘truth’ at the heart of our experiences?
Week 4 - Sept 19th - What am I Writing?
Here we consider theme and audience. Who is the reader for our piece and why should they be interested? How can we make our own experiences engaging and relevant to someone else? What are our pieces really ‘about’ beyond just documenting what we have experienced?
Week 4 - Sept 20th - Optional Sharing Session (6-7pm)
Students are invited to meet for an hour to share and discuss their final drafts.
This course aims to be neurodivergent and disabled friendly.
As standard:
-Sessions include live closed captioning
-Sessions are recorded and shared with course members
-All slideshow and reading materials shared directly with members
-All exercise instructions are written out and given verbally
-No pressure to use mics or cameras - students can choose to use the chat function to communicate with the group
-No pressure to share work. There will be an optional hour long session at the end of the course for sharing and workshopping written work.
-All sessions will have a mid point break, but students are encouraged to eat, drink, stim, move about the room, and take breaks as needed.
-Attendees will be given an opportunity to share any specific access needs as well as suggestions for improving accessibility overall.
For more information on the course leader, KR Moorhead, please visit krmoorhead.com
Event Venue
Online
GBP 48.00 to GBP 60.00
