SWW Storyteller

Workshops

SouthWest Writers offers one-session workshops to advance the skills and marketability of writers in a time-sensitive format. Experienced instructors guide participants through lecture, example, and exercises to increase the quality of their writing.

What is the difference between a class and a workshop? A class is more than one session and usually includes assignments to be completed outside of class. A workshop is one session, and any work required of the students is done during the workshop session.

MEMOIR WRITING LABS: The craft of writing memoir

Fiction is writing what you don’t know and finding out what you know.
Memoir is writing about what you know and finding out what you don’t know.

presented by Connie Josefs, MFA

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Day 1 - Lab AM Who’s Talking?: First Person Narrative
Day 1 - Lab PM The Way They Were: Writing Believable Characters

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Day 2 - Lab AM In the Moment: Crafting Effective Scenes
Day 2 - Lab PM As Time Goes By: The Shape of Time in Memoir

Tuition per lab:
$45.00 discounted rate for SWW members
$55.00 Courtesy rate for Osher Institute Members
$90.00 Non-Member rate

Tuition two labs same day:
$80.00 Discounted rate for SWW members,
$95.00 Courtesy rate for Osher Institute Members
$170.00 Non-Member Rate
Lunch Included

Entire series, four labs, with lunch:
$150.00 Discounted rate for SWW members,
$175.00 Courtesy rate for Osher Institute Members
$320.00 Non-Member Rate

New Life Presbyterian Church
5540 Eubank NE (just North of Spain)
Albuquerque, New Mexico

To Register: Click Here For Registration Form
Not a member of SWW? Join for $60 and enroll at the member rate.
SWW Membership Sign-up is also on the Registration Form
Sign up with credit card or check at the SWW meeting
Or E-mail SWW Office: swwriters@juno.com
Office Hours: 9-12 M-F
Or Call SWW Office: 505-265-9485

SouthWest Writers is pleased to present four half-day labs dedicated to the craft of writing memoir. Each interactive lab will offer concrete tools and strategies for transforming memory into compelling narrative. Attendees invited to bring their written material. Minimum class size: 20.

LAB #1 SATURDAY, OCT. 15th, 9:00- NOON: Who’s Talking? First Person Narrative
First person narrative is the default setting for memoir. In this lab, we will explore the assets and liabilities of writing in the first person and examine how both fiction and memoir writers have utilized this point of view to maximum effect.

LAB #2 SATURDAY, OCT. 15th, 1:00-4:00 PM: The Way They Were: Writing Believable Characters
How do we get the people we know onto the page? When writing memoir, it’s all too easy to take our characters for granted because we know them. This lab will provide tools and exercises for crafting vivid and memorable characters.

LAB #3 SATURDAY, OCT. 29th, 9:00 - NOON: In The Moment: Crafting Effective Scenes
Scene is the building block of memoir. But how do we determine when to move from scene to exposition? This lab will examine the effects of scene and exposition upon the reader and explore how they can be used effectively to recreate experience.

LAB #4 SATURDAY, OCT. 29th, 1:00-4:00 PM: As Time Goes By: The Shape of Time in Memoir
The memoirist is required to view events from two vantage points: then and now. How do writers accommodate this shifting narrative stance? This lab will examine how memoirists organize time and point of view to structure scenes and create coherence.

Each half-day lab is offered for separate enrollment. Two different writing labs are offered in one full day. Participants may choose from four labs, enroll for full-day labs, or pick and choose from the schedule above. Not a member of SWW? Join for $60.00 Online and enroll at the member rate. SWW Membership Registration information is also on the Memoir Labs Registration Form.

Unlike autobiography, which takes readers through a life from beginning to end, memoir circles a thematic center and provides a prismatic glance at some seminal piece of life. These labs will offer concrete tools and strategies for transforming memory into compelling memoir.

Each lab will focus on a particular element of craft, including writing in first person (also a great class for fiction writers), creating dynamic characters, crafting effective scenes and working with time and point of view. Each half-day lab is offered for separate enrollment. Two different writing labs will be offered in one full day. Participants may choose from four labs, enroll for full-day labs, or pick and choose from the menu listed above.

Connie Josefs has been a writer, teacher and literary consultant for more than 20 years. A native New Yorker, Josefs moved to Los Angeles in 1980, where she was a writer/producer for television and independent video productions, and a story analyst for Tristar Television and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. She taught memoir at The Writing Circle and for the Emeritus Program at Santa Monica College, where she was founding editor of the literary journal, E-33: Writings from Emeritus. She was a guest artist in the creative writing program at UNM Taos, and led memoir workshops for Yaxche School and the Chesed Project. She currently teaches memoir at the Osher Institute of Lifelong Learning at UNM. Her fiction and essays have appeared in numerous magazines and literary journals. Ms. Josefs received her MFA in fiction writing from Antioch University.

More Info: Contact: Connie Josefs: conjo@writingcircle.com or Terry Civello: Terryrose150@yahoo.com