Story Circle Network

Internet Chapter Workshops

Writing From Life

Instructor: Susan Wittig Albert, Ph.D.

Author: Writing From Life, Work of Her Own, the China Bayles Herbal Mysteries, the Robin Paige Victorian Mysteries, numerous articles, textbooks, children's novels

Thanks for your interest!
Here is how our on-line workshop is organized:
  1. Become a member (using our on-line form) of the Story Circle Network, as well as the Internet Chapter.
  2. Enroll in a workshop(s), using our on-line enrollment form
  3. Send your check to
    Story Circle Network
    P.O. Box 500127
    Austin, TX 78750-0127
  4. When your payment has been received, you will receive email notification that will include instructions on how to access the web pages for the workshop in which you enrolled.

"Memoir must be written because each of us must possess a created version of the past... If we learn not only to tell our stories but to listen to what our stories tell us--to write the first draft and then return for the second draft--we are doing the work of memory."
--Patricia Hampl, I Could Tell You Stories: Sojourns in the Land of Memory

This workshop is designed for women who want to write about their lives. This kind of writing probably falls under the category that we used to call the "personal essay," although these days we're more likely to think of it in terms of memoir. You'll be asked to remember, reflect on, and write about meaningful, emotion-charged experiences in your life. As you use the lesson material available to you, you'll learn some ways to recall life-material and shape it into stories by creating scenes, developing characters, describing settings, using dialogue. As you review the instructor's editorial suggestions, you'll also learn some techniques for reorganizing and editing your work. By the end of the course, you should have six thousand-word pieces, which you might want to think of as chapters in your memoir book. If you choose, you can also participate in an e-group with other workshop writers, and share your work. --Susan Wittig Albert

Workshop Guidelines:

  1. The material:
    I've put up 12 writing lessons, each of which focusses on a particular life-writing topic. Each lesson includes text, examples, and exercises. (These are the same lessons I've been including in the Story Circle Journal for the past 3 years.)

  2. Your introduction:
    Before we begin, please send me an email ( china@tstar.net ), introducing yourself and answering these four questions:
    1. What is your purpose in joining this workshop? That is, what are you looking for from me?
    2. What kind of experience have you had as a writer? (Experience isn't necessary, but I'd like to know where we're starting.)
    3. Who do you think of as the audience for the writing you'll be doing in this workshop?
    4. What specifically are you expecting from me?

  3. Your syllabus:
    You will choose six of the 12 lessons for your workshop syllabus. You don't have to choose these all at once--one at a time is fine. You'll read the text, and use it as a catalyst for your writing. When you've written as much as you like, you'll choose passages totalling about 1000 words and send those to me, via email (plain text or in a Word attachment), fax, or "snail mail" (see the workshop address/location at the bottom of this page).

  4. My feedback:
    I will read your submission and make comments and offer suggestions--the kind of feedback I would expect to give if you were in one of my college-level writing classes. However, as I read and comment, I will also take into account any experience you've had, as well as your purpose and your intended audience (the information in your initial email to me). I'll return your material the way it came, via email (plain text or in a Word attachment), fax, or "snail mail".

  5. Deadlines:
    I'd prefer you to send your submissions on a weekly basis, on the same day each week. You choose the day and tell me what it is. The easiest thing would be for you to send me an email with all six of your deadlines listed. However, if you have a time problem, you could send them bi-weekly. The idea here is for you to use the discipline of submission as motivation to write. (There have been times in my life when I just couldn't write if I didn't have a deadline!)

  6. Missed deadlines:
    If you must miss your self-determined deadline (weekly or bi-weekly) please let me know that you're going to miss it and tell me when you'll meet it. (If I'm going to be late with a magazine article, I have to let my editor know, so she can decide how to handle the situation.) If a couple of deadlines go by and I haven't heard from you, I'll assume that you've dropped the workshop and will fill your place.

  7. Drops:
    If you decide to drop the course, let me know so I can fill your place. If you drop before submitting the third lesson, you'll receive a $60 refund. No refunds after submitting the third lesson.

  8. Leaves:
    If something happens in your life and you need to take a leave from the workshop, please let me know when you expect to return. I'll fill your place but also put you on the waiting list so there's room for you when you're ready to come back. However, if something happens in my life so that I can't add any more participants, I'll reluctantly have to drop anybody who's on the waiting list.

  9. Evaluations:
    At the end of your six lessons, I'll send you an overall evaluation of your work (again, keeping your purpose and your intended audience in mind). I'll also send you an evaluation form for you to fill out and return to me, soliciting your feedback about the materials and my responses, and your suggestions for improving the process. This workshop is very much an experiment, and we've all got a lot to learn about this new means of communicating.

  10. Other ways of communicating:
    We have a listserve (http://www.egroups.com/group/WFLworkshop), as well as a bulletin board and a chat room on the Internet Chapter website. Depending on my time and your inclinations, maybe we can get together there. We'll see how it works, and how much time we have.

Workshop Lessons: (choose 6 of the 12 topics below)

  1. Soul Food: Foods, Kitchens & Cooks We Have Loved

  2. Passionate Attachments

  3. A Closet Full of Memories

  4. All the Way to Heaven: A Spiritual Journey

  5. Gardens of Imagination and Memory

  6. Out of the Fire

  7. Minding Our Own Business

  8. Life with Father

  9. The Path of the Artist: Writing the Story of Our Creativity

  10. Mother, Mother: Writing About the Motherbond

  11. Sisters and Sisterhood

  12. New Beginnings

Workshop Address/Location:

Submit your writing to Susan Wittig Albert

Last updated: 01/11/01