[WordPlay] There are still spots in this Thursday morning's memoir workshop! Can't come? A powerful prompt just for you.

Published: Sat, 09/14/19

Dear ,

Hope you're having a great weekend! I'm writing to let you know that there are still spots left in this Thursday morning's memoir workshop. (Details here and below.)

I know, though, that the odds are that you won't be able to come, so I'm including one of my best memoir prompts for you, along with a sample writing, so that, if you can't make it, you still have an opportunity to learn and to write.

All best to you and your writing,

Maureen

THE GIFT OF MEMOIR:
WRITING PERSONAL AND FAMILY STORIES

This Thursday Morning!

Just for you, a Gift of Memoir workshop to help you get your most meaningful life stories written. If you are interested in writing family and/or personal life stories—those significant tales of adventure, transition, love, loss, and triumph, as well as lovely everyday moments from times past or the present—come learn specific tools and techniques to retrieve and record them.

You will learn and practice the fundamental tools and steps needed to both capture individual events that have been important to you, reflecting on the impact and meaning as well as what happened, and the process of collecting events together into a full-length memoir or book of essays—whether this is for personal reflection, to share with family and friends, or to publish to reach a larger audience.

After this workshop, you’ll have a chance to join one or more monthly classes, also held on a Thursday morning, to share one of your life stories with the class to receive feedback and guidance in moving forward.

Our stories are a precious legacy. Putting them in writing is a gift to all who know and love us—they can be treasured and enjoyed for generations to come. It is also a gift to ourselves.

WHERE: The WordPlay studio, Ballantyne area. Directions will be sent upon registration.
WHEN: Thursday, September 19th, from 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
COST: $46

TO REGISTER: To pay with a check via mail, email info@wordplaynow.com for instructions. To register online with a debit or credit card, please click this link to pay via PayPal.

WordPlay Now! Bonus Writing Prompt

This is WordPlay—so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another?

Years ago, in a personal growth seminar, we attendees participated in a powerful role-playing exercise called "Lifeboat." We were told we were on a sinking ship, and that there was only one lifeboat. We each had to, one at a time, try to convince the other people on the ship that we should be one of the people who made it on to the lifeboat.

Years later, when I started writing and teaching memoir, I realized that our most valued experiences, our best laughter/tear/astonishment-producing stories reside in the sinking ship that is us. Because, as much as we might want to live forever, at some point—hopefully far, far in the future, we are going down. And unless we put our stories "into a lifeboat" (in other words, write them down and share them with at least one other person), they are going down with us.

STEP ONE: Your mission, in this prompt, is to make a list of your best "lifeboat moments." What events, what moments have been so important in your life that you don't want them to be forgotten? Set a timer for ten minutes, and begin a list. Even if nothing comes at first, stick with this until the timer goes off. If it helps, start with the people you have loved the most. What are your favorite memories of being together? What are you most proud of having accomplished?

STEP TWO: When the timer rings, pick one item off your list and set the timer for ten minutes again. Then, beginning with the words, "I remember . . ." capture your experience in writing anyway you can. Don't stop writing until the timer goes off—you can come back to "I remember . . ." as often as you need to to keep your hand in motion.

STEP THREE: Now, read your writing, and then type it up. What would you like to add, take out, or change? Polish your piece until you're "happy enough" with it. It doesn't have to be perfect.

DON'T STOP HERE!

Keep your list of "lifeboat moments" in a safe, convenient place, and keep adding to it as you think of more moments and experiences that deserve to be preserved.

And keep repeating steps two and three as needed.

Attached is one of my best "lifeboat moments." Yes, to answer the inevitable question,this really happened. Just this way. I believe it is my proof that I was meant to come to live in North Carolina all those years ago! It's one of the stories that will be a part of my upcoming memoir, How She Fed Us.

MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water.

She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another." Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best

learn—and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours!

WordPlay
Maureen Ryan Griffin
Email: info@wordplaynow.com
Website: www.wordplaynow.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wordplaynow