Online Memoir Writing Workshop

Whether for our kids and grandkids or for our own satisfaction, there are many good reasons to consider writing up our memoirs. It’s easier to sustain the effort and a lot more fun doing it with others. The Online Memoir Writing Workshop is a vehicle for doing that. It is online so everyone can join while Zoom provides breakout rooms so we can work just 4 or 5 of us together at a time. Everyone reads their work aloud and everyone shares questions and suggestions that way.


Membership is always open. We have handouts posted here to get newbies up to speed. The Workshop is ongoing, so you can join us when inspiration hits and take a pause when life requires it. You won’t miss anything but the stories from others in your group, which you will want to catch up on. The Workshop has a mission, but it is also a fun way to meet folks and make friends.



So check it out. If you cannot make our meeting, just email Rick Hendra at rickhendra1@gmail.com who will catch you up.


Next meeting: Friday, February 20th at 2:45 pm via Zoom

Zoom Link: https://assumptionwise.zoom.us/j/82196102495?pwd=ML6nVhhwP9JnVqVMnGa3aDFTRFCJ1l.1


At our last meeting on Feb. 3, we shared our plans for the memoir we'll be writing, and we shared ideas as well - about the value of photos and quotes, about made-up quotes and composite characters, and about different ways of approaching the task. We talked a bit about audience, whether for our kids, ourselves, or each other. It was really a treat hearing a bit about each other's stories.


For next time, we’re bringing 2 to 4 pages of whatever story we each feel most comfortable starting with, whether from the beginning, middle, or end. We'll figure next steps from there.








How Is a Memoir Different from an Autobiography?

  • Autobiography is a form of memoir – an exaggerated form - memoir being the broader, more varied category.
  • Memoirs are typically more focused than comprehensive, the focus being on something besides just the writer: a time, a place, a career, a journey, a period of hardship, a friendship... 
  • And so memoirs are more varied in tone, time-frame, form and content than autobiographies depending on the experience the author chooses to reflect on.
  • Memoirs tend to be more reflective and literary than chronological and historical – more story than history, true stories though they be.
  • Like stories, they have a beginning, a middle, and an end; autobiographies generally don’t give us all three…


Types of Memoirs

  • Personal: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt depicts the author’s struggles and experiences growing up in poverty in Ireland.
  • Family: The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr discusses the author’s turbulent childhood and the complexities of her family relationships.
  • Travel: The Travels of Marco Polo by himself. From Venice to China and back.
  • Career: Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain details the author’s experiences and challenges working in the culinary industry, from humble beginnings to stardom
  • Addiction and recovery: Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
  • Illness and health: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion explores the author’s grief and coping mechanisms following the death of her husband
  • Cultural/historical moments: The Hare with Amber Eyes
  •  by Edmund de Waal explores a family’s history and the impact of historical events on their lives over a turbulent century