Instructor: Lisa Baron
Maximum Enrollment: 5
Class Term: 08/24/2022 - 09/07/2022
Tuition/Fees
SCN Member: $120
Non-Member: $160
Class synopsis
For Part I participants only. Are you hoping to enrich and deepen your writing practice? Come join this interactive, supportive essay writing class informed by the teachings of Marion Roach Smith, Ann Patchett, and Abigail Thomas, all award-winning authors.Class description
Each class will include a review of writing wisdom from the Memoir Project, study and discussion of essays, and an opportunity to share your own writing and receive constructive feedback. It is recommended, not required, that you purchase What Comes Next and How To Like It, by Abigail Thomas.
Class goals
Enrich and expand your writing skills. Strengthen your self-editing skills. Study and learn from accomplished memoir writers.
Class communication method
Zoom sessions will be offered from 1:30-3:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time for the following dates: Wednesday, August 24, Wednesday, August 31, and Wednesday, September 7. I will email all students pre-reading a week before each class, as well as written feedback on their writing 3 days before each class session.Class outline
Class 1 – The goal of this class is to bring our readers deeper into our experiences through our writing. The class will include: Writing prompts to practice: Tightening our language and expanding our sensory descriptions. What words might we “leave in”, what words might we “take out” and why? How can we best communicate our experiences through our words? Published memoir writing samples will be studied and discussed. Students will have a chance to share their writing for constructive feedback. Students will exchange writing in between class sessions.
Class 2 – We will review feedback and the self-editing process – How do we decide on the direction we’d like our pieces to go? We will discuss and study the use of metaphor in memoirs, continuing to look at tightening language and adding sensory description. Published memoir writing samples will be studied and discussed. Students will have a chance to share their writing for constructive feedback. Students will exchange writing in between class sessions.
Class 3 – We will review feedback and the self-editing process. We will review teachings from The Memoir Project, and other memoirists studied in class. Students will set writing goals for themselves based on their studies of class materials, and writing masters. There will be ample time for reading your self-edited pieces and sharing.
Class time commitment
60- 90 minutes per week to include reading sample Memoir essays sent by instructor, writing your own piece, or working on an existing piece, and giving written feedback to other students you will email to them before each class meeting.Instructor bio
Dr. Lisa Baron is a writer, teacher, therapist, and mentor. She has filled journals with poetry and reflections for many years. Her writing reflects her strong commitment to introspection.
Her writing has been published in Story Circle’s “Life After Covid” anthology, The New Social Worker, and Natural Awakenings. She is in the process of co-authoring a book with two other women authors on the conversations we have with our younger selves. Her website is LisaBaronCreative.com
