WEBINAR | Why Does Your Memoir Matter? Finding the Heart of Your Story to Connect with Readers
November 18 @ 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm America/NewYork
Your memoir is not what happened to you—it’s why it mattered. Memoirs that sell connect a single focus from your story with readers.
For memoirists
Included in the Season Pass
One of the most challenging things for memoirists to do is find the singular story out of a lifetime of stories they’re telling in their memoir. A memoir is a single lens on an aspect of a life—not an entire biography, and memoirists must learn to distill their work. The events they choose to dramatize must be those most relevant to the internal growth trajectory of the narrator. In other words, they must learn to ask “who cares?” ruthlessly about key events in their lives. Not a task for the faint of heart!
In this interactive webinar, we’ll explore powerful questions to help you find the heart of your memoir. If you aren’t sure yet what your story is, these questions can help you understand what’s missing! We will also look at the concept of a misbelief and learn how tracking a character’s misbelief leads us to the memoir’s theme and point. Whether you’re just starting your memoir, already have several drafts, are struggling with a proposal or are getting rejections for “I didn’t connect” or “I don’t know who the audience is,” these exercises will strengthen your understanding of your work.
Please bring writing materials and be prepared to write!
In this webinar, you will:
- EXPLORE examples of memoir “points”
- UNDERSTAND the difference between plot and story (what and why)
- LEARN how point and theme are connected
- IDENTIFY the scene that their memoir requires in order to exist
- PRACTICE finding the heart of their memoir
This webinar is ideal for intermediate and advanced memorists…
- who are struggling to complete a memoir draft
- who can’t see the forest for the trees in their story
- seeking clarity on their memoir’s focus
- who are writing book proposals and stuck on the overview or the audience
- curious about how their narrative connects with a larger audience
Closed captioning is available. ✔
All registrants receive the recording. ✔
ABOUT YOUR PRESENTER
Funny, kind, and direct, Laraine Herring is a popular CRAFT TALKS presenter and one of our strongest voices on deeply personal writing that powerfully connects with readers.
Laraine’s memoir, A Constellation of Ghosts: A Speculative Memoir with Ravens, was released in 2021 from Regal House. She’s the editor of the anthology Becoming Real: Women Reclaim the Power of the Imagined through Speculative Nonfiction (Pact Press, 2024) and a trilogy of writing books from Shambhala, including Writing Begins with the Breath: Embodying Your Authentic Voice. A retired professor of creative writing and psychology, Lariane has worked with writers for thirty years.
She’s also an illustrator and a grief counselor and creator of The Grief Forest: a book about what we don’t talk about. She founded the online ‘zine Hags on Fire, a place for women to share stories about menopause, and co-designed The Imaginal Memoir Cave immersion program with Gayle Brandeis. Laraine’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Tiferet, The Rumpus, The Manifest-Station, and many more. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and an MA in Counseling Psychology and lives in the mountains of northern Arizona with many cats.
REFUNDS (less a $10 processing fee) ARE AVAILABLE before the replay is sent out. For a refund, EMAIL us at info@WritingCraft.com. Canceling your Zoom invite will not initiate this process.
There are no refunds after the replay is sent.
Questions? Please email Info@writingcraft.com
