| Teaching a group of individuals how to write their | | | | When people start to talk about their own lives, |
| life stories can be a fun and rewarding experience. | | | | as we said before, you just never know what |
| Here are a few tips to get you started. | | | | direction they are going to go in. While that sort |
| Research | | | | of freedom can be a great thing in the right |
| The first thing you will want to do when you are | | | | circumstance, it can also lead your class astray |
| teaching a memoir writing workshop is to do your | | | | unless you start it off with some sort of lesson |
| research. Go to your bookshelf and take down a | | | | plan. While you don't want to ride herd over the |
| few of your most favorite memoirs and do a | | | | creative process, you do want to make sure that |
| quick study of each one. What is it that you like | | | | you give your students specific guidelines during |
| about them? What does each author use as a | | | | each lesson and let them take it from there. |
| starting and ending point? These are just some of | | | | Remember that one of your many duties is that |
| the aspects of this work that you will want to | | | | of "guide." When a student starts careening off |
| take a look at, and that can gives you ideas to | | | | into a different direction that you had intended |
| pass on to your students if they feel stuck. You | | | | the lesson to go, you can do one of two things: |
| might also want to take a look at one or two of | | | | either let it go and see where it leads the class, or |
| the many books out there that center on the | | | | firmly but gently lead to discussion back to what |
| craft of memoir writing. There are many tips and | | | | your lesson plan intended. There is a time and a |
| tricks specific to this genre that you will want to | | | | place for each, and you should be open to both. |
| familiarize yourself with. | | | | You should be able to tell by the reaction of the |
| Confidentiality | | | | rest of your students which direction your |
| Because of the extremely personal nature of this | | | | discussion is intended to go. |
| type of writing, you never know what your | | | | Make an Anthology |
| students might want to bring up about their lives | | | | One thing that will make your class truly |
| during discussions and in their written pieces. In | | | | memorable is to create a hardcover book that |
| order to help create an atmosphere in which your | | | | contains each of your students' work. You can |
| students feel they can say whatever it is they | | | | either send it away to one of several websites |
| need to say about their lives, you should draw up | | | | that do this sort of printing, or get your own |
| a confidentiality agreement, and have each | | | | binding machine. Thermal binding machines (the |
| student sign it. The point is to get your students | | | | kind that do hardcover and softcover binding) are |
| to both agree to open up their lives, and to allow | | | | inexpensive and incredibly easy to use, so you |
| their fellow students to do so safely. | | | | can even have one on hand and make it a part |
| Teaching vs. Guiding | | | | of the workshop. |