Write your Story - Memoir Course Cape Town May 2018
Wed May 2, 09:00 - Wed May 2, 12:30
The Writing Room
ABOUT
Do you have someone you want to remember ....or record their life?
Do you want to record your own life, or a slice of it?
You can write your story for your family, for your children, for a publisher or a magazine. But most of all you can also write it for yourself. You can write to record your life, or a part of it. It is a way of finding meaning. It is creative journey of the soul.
Just join us and write it down. Tell your own story
Dates: 3, 9, 16, 23 May 2018 Times: 9am - 12pm
Venue: Hout Bay, Cape Town South Africa
Cost: R6,200
Deposit R2,800
You can book and pay via Quicket or email me for other payment options
All the course info is also here on The Writing Room website
Flannery O’Connor famously said that anyone who survives childhood has enough material to write anything.
Why do we write about ourselves? We write because we want to understand. We write to record and remember, or to simply share. Writing your own story is a powerful experience. Some stories simply HAVE to be written. After years of teaching novel writing my love has turned to memoir. Both of my non-fiction books have been memoir-based and many writers with whom I work are focusing on memoir.
It can be a year, a single incident or a theme that runs through your life. It can be a deep love of food, a passion that has driven you, an obsession or a love affair that marked your life and changed your course. The job of a writer is to find your own story. In some way it is the greatest job.
Everyone has a story. Most people have a few. What is yours?
Why should your write your story down?
- To find some meaning to your own life
- To set the record straight
- Ensure your children and grandchildren know who you are
- Preserve your family’s history
- Capture a slice of history
- Leave your legacy
You will leave with:
* Finding your life theme
* Working with dialogue
* Handling point of view
* Limiting your time
* Including characters and events
* Finding your life story
* Finding your own writing voice
* Giving your story a structure
* Researching and remembering your life
* The Elements of Structure
* How to Define and Create Your Most Compelling Book
* The basics of planning a compelling story
* Sourcing Tips and Techniques
* Adding Depth and Layers
* Knowing what to include and exclude
* How to present your book to publishers or how to print and publish yourself
WHAT PAST PARTICIPANTS SAY
“Sarah took my lifelong dream of writing a book seriously. In four inspiring lessons she equipped me with the framework to succeed by teaching me how and by pushing me to start. Her advice is frank, her direction crystal clear and her insight invaluable. I started the course with only a burning desire and left with a genre, characters, a plot and my first few chapters written.” Anne 2012
“I give Sarah's course a 5* rating.”
Zanozuko Mzamo, A Year of Staying Positive (2008)
“This is a life-changing course. I spent a month course immersed in my ideas for a book and I came away with a way to write it. Sarah is hard-core and she pushed me all the way to the end. I only wished it could go on and on.”
Rajesh, January 2013.
‘All aspects of writing became clear in this course. I knew what to do with my book and how to complete it.” S Redelinghuys, A Life Interrupted (2008)
It was an absolute pleasure today chatting to you for my coaching session . You walked me through my entire book and fixed the structure in 60 mins. You have given me hope and inspiration again. I was soooooo stuck and now I just feel like something just released today. I have just completed writing what I think could be the list of 96 scenes for my book. YEYYYYY!!!!! I feel soooo Exhilarated!!!!!
Hawa Charfaray, Dubai (writing her memoir, 2015)
“This course comes highly recommended. If you need a clear direction or a new take on your book, you will get more than your money’s worth out of this one – you may come away with a bestseller.” Michelle Matthews, former publisher Oshun Struik SA (2007)
“I am loving the writing course btw…it is the best money I have ever spent.”
Andy Moss 2013
“Holy smoke Sarah, I actually sat and did it. It was a crash course in writing, but it worked like a charm. The plotting spreadsheets I got to the end, with a 60,000 word first draft of my book,” Miranda Guest, New York 2010
ABOUT THE WRITING ROOM
About us
Is there a book inside you? The Writing Room is a place of support for writers and authors to take you from a dream to a published book. We run various writing courses and mentoring programmes, talks and events for all levels of writers in South Africa, Greece, US and online.
We are really here to help you get your book written, and get you the entire way through the publishing process.
Find me at The Writing Room
Is there a book inside you? The Writing Room is a place of support for writers and authors to take you from a dream to a published book. We run various writing courses and mentoring programmes, talks and events for all levels of writers in South Africa, Greece, US and online.
We are really here to help you get your book written, and get you the entire way through the publishing process.
Find me at The Writing Room
ABOUT SARAH BULLEN
Sarah Bullen is a writing coach, book editor, international speaker and publishing consultant working with both writers and publishers. She works with writers and publishers all over the world to help you to find and tell YOUR best story - in any format. This could be a speech, a book, a novel, a personal essay or a professional book. ?
"I am a Structure Fanatic thanks to years as a magazine and book editor. I totally believe in planning your book and writing with intent. Sometimes it just takes some clear direction, and an understanding on how to structure a book to take you from having a dream of writing to becoming a published author. That, and a lot of time spent writing it!" 
