The Gift of Memoir Workbook Cami Ostman
Cover photo by Daria Shevtsova on Unsplash Workbook Design by Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor Memory Into Memoir Trademark Cami Ostman 2015 The Gift of Memoir Workbook Copyright Cami Ostman 2015 2
Table of Contents You Know You Have a Story to Tell 4 Journal Prompts 5 Recommended Productivity Chart 7 Arc Timeline Exercise 8 The Writing and Revision Process 11 Support and Accountability Chart 12 Where to Go Next 13 Your Instructor and Coach, Cami Ostman 15 3
You KNOW you have a story to tell and you know your story will be meaningful to others perhaps to your family, perhaps to a much wider audience. You ve attended writing classes, workshops, and conferences. You ve bought books on the writing life and set intentions to get your writing done. So where is that book? There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you, said Maya Angelou. You feel this, don t you? Like many of us who KNOW we have lived through an experience that simply must be written, you ve probably gotten stuck somewhere along the writing path. Most of us who long to write our memoirs do a lot of PAINFUL stopping and starting. Are you ready to finally get your book done? 4
Journal Prompts Let s begin this writing journey with a few questions. You can write them in a journal and refer to them as you write your book. In a paragraph or two, summarize the project you are working on/the story you are telling in your memoir: Who is the audience you want to reach with your book/story? 5
What are the biggest stumbling blocks you ve faced in your writing? Talk about WHY you want to write this story. What would it mean to you or to others if you were able to get your book completed and launched into the world? 6
Recommended Productivity Chart Writing is like anything else; to get it done, you have to do it. And working toward a SOLID draft includes doing both writing and revising, side by side. Most of us don t have the luxury of taking a year off work to write. So, here is my recommended productivity chart for busy people. Follow this chart faithfully and you ll get your draft done! Add a writing coach and a critique group and you ll be on your way to launching your book into the world. Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Month 7 Month 8 Mondays Toward 70,000 Words = 2,188 new words per week Wednesday Fridays Sundays s Read through this week s material Read through this and make revisions. week s material and Read all material to date. Make notes on old material and make revisions on this week s material only. Read all material to date. Make notes on old material and make revisions on this week s material only. Read all material to date. Make notes on old material and make revisions on this week s material only. Read all material to date. Make notes on old material and make revisions on this week s material only. Read all material to date. Make notes on old material and make revisions on this week s material only. Read all material to date. Make notes on old material and make revisions on this week s material only. Read all material to date. Make notes on old material and make revisions on this week s material only. make notes Go back through older material to make revisions. Go back through older material to make revisions. Go back through older material to make revisions. Go back through older material to make revisions. Go back through older material to make revisions. Go back through older material to make revisions. Go back through older material to make revisions. Tips: 1. Put ALL of your writing time on your calendar. 2. Know your where and when preferences for your writing. 3. Increase your writing time each month as you move through the calendar. 4. Be strict about your boundaries around writing (generating first draft) versus revising. 7
Arc Timeline Exercise In memoir, we take some finite period of time in our lives and bring it into order. In real life, order is not always experienced in the midst of life-changing events, but in writing our memoirs, we oblige ourselves to create an ARC out of events that may have been experienced as pure chaos when they happened. With this beginning exercise, start to think in terms of SCENES and THEMES. For the purpose of building the arc of your book, look at the events you ll be writing about in chronological order. Something kicks off the time period we are writing about. Perhaps your journey starts when you get THE job or when you have an accident. While you may flashback perhaps often and for significant portions of the text focus for now on the specific events that move your story forward. On the outside of the arc, make a list, in the order they happened, of scenes you know you want to include in your story. Use red ink. On the inside of the arc, using blue ink, list the major realizations or lessons learned that correspond to any of the scenes you plan to write about. See the example on the next page and then give it a try. Creating a solid list of scenes is crucial to your productivity. 8
I ditch George End of story Maybe there are several scenes of our narrator (me) spending time both with George and alone or with others Realization: I DO want a relationship but I don t need one at any cost. I will be fine on my own until I find someone who respects me. After 6 weeks by myself, George shows up. Scene: opening the door to see him standing there with flowers. Our heroine (me) comes to some understandings through these interactions about owning her own power and about what she genuinely wants and needs in her life. Middle of story Realization: I am ambivalent about having a relationship and I always have been. Getting lost on way to hotel. Met a blind woman who helped me find it. Help was to come to me from unusual sources, maybe I was going to learn to think outside the box Got off the plane in Africa and George was nowhere to be found Realization: I was alone in a foreign land. Now I would have to face my life-long fear of being alone. Beginning 9
Your Turn End of story Middle of story Beginning 10
The Writing and Revision Process 1. Pre-writing This can be anything that gets your juices flowing: doodling, laundry, journaling. 2. Drafting ( shitty first draft ) Get your butt in the chair and produce words. 3. Critique Now you bring those words to a reader or group of readers and get their reactions. 4. Revise Go back to the page and make changes. Repeat 3 and 4 until the material feels solid. 5. Developmental editing Find an editor and prepare yourself for additional changes. 6. Revise Work with your editor to tighten and reorganize your work until you get to a final draft. I am hard at work on the second draft... Second draft is really a misnomer as there are a gazillion revisions, large and small, that go into the writing of a book. Libby Bray 11
Support and Accountability Chart One of the most critical, yet often overlooked, part of the writing process is the writer s support system. Knowing who is, and who is not, in your support system will help you achieve your goals throughout the writing process. High Support/Low Accountability High Support/High Accountability These people cheer for you but don t care if you meet your goals. This is your best pal who applauds your diet but is happy to buy you ice cream the first time you have a craving. These people cheer for you but crack the whip when you need them to. This is your neighbor who thinks you re awesome because you re training for a marathon and drags you out for a run when you feel lazy. Low Support/Low Accountability Low Support/High Accountability These are your hecklers and saboteurs. They are possibly jealous of your pursuit, or they may be individuals who fear how your success might affect them. These people are those who do not know you well but constantly ask about your progress. This can be a blog audience or readership, people in a club you belong to or casual acquaintances. They are not in the position to offer genuine support but you owe them reports. 12
Where to go next? Sign up with Cami for a breakthrough book planning session. To schedule, go here and look for the pop-up window: http://www.camiostman.net. Are ready for support now? Memory into Memoir is a nine-month tele-program, which means you take part in it virtually. There will be a maximum of 18 writers working together to complete their memoirs; you ll be in an editorial group of NINE (divided up by time zones so that critique meetings won t go too late for east coast writers). A private Facebook group will keep us connected and able to share resources and encouragement easily. You also get FOUR individually scheduled coaching sessions to work intricately with your material. What Memory into Memoir will be doing for you and with you: 1. Creating an organized writing life that is designed specifically for YOUR personality, temperament, and schedule. 2. Providing accountability for getting your work done and support for the hard times. 3. Teaching you story-telling skills that help you craft effective narrative arc, character, theme, scenic depiction, pacing, voice, and dialogue. 4. GIVING YOU A CHANCE TO PUBLISH!!! We have an agreement with Penchant Press and will be publishing an anthology at the end of your program. One of your pieces will be edited and polished and featured in the book when you jump into the program. For an application, click on http://www.camiostman.net/memory-into-memoirapplication/, answer the questions and push send. The next group starts in April! Proposed schedule (notice we meet three weeks of each month and leave the fourth week free entirely for your writing): April Week 1: Introductions/Structure of the program is introduced/setting up your writing life Week 2: Exploring your message and audience/how to read and revise Week 3: Structure of your book May Week 1: Take-aways and Themes June Week 1: Dialogue 13
July Week 1: Scenic Depiction 1 August Week 1: Time (elapsing time, flashbacks, tenses) September Week 1: Narrative Voice October Week 1: Scenic Depiction 2 November Week 1: Character development December Week 1: Narrative arc January Week 1 only: Closure Publication: Each student will have the opportunity to choose one piece of approximately 2500 words, edit it with the support of Memory into Memoir coaches and editors, and will publish it in an upcoming anthology. Participants will help name the book and will have the opportunity to participate in marketing! Philosophy: One becomes a good writer by becoming a good reader. Memory into Memoir requires writers to read and critique the work of others in a very specific way. Because we are committed to helping you get your book written, we are committed to you building the schedule, skills, and support you need to that end. 14
Your Instructor and Coach, Cami Ostman Cami is the author of the quest memoir Second Wind: One Woman s Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents and the co-editor of two anthologies of memoirs. She has coached hundreds of writers of all ages through the completion of projects varying in length from short poems to very, very long books. She has a passion for story! As a psychotherapist and as a writer, Cami excels at helping people figure out what it is they REALLY have to say. Her gift is to break down the daunting tasks in life into manageable bite-sized pieces for people so they can experience success. 15