Everyone has a story to tell. Whether you are looking at writing a memoir, non-fiction, or keeping a journal of your experiences, this course is perfect for you and will give you the skills and confidence you need to write about your experiences creatively and interestingly. This one day workshop covers the basics of the autobiographical process through a series of exercises, workshops, and discussions to get you on the way to writing your story.

Course Outcomes:

By the end of the course, participants will have an understanding of:

• The differences between memoir and autobiography.
• How to get started writing their life stories.
• Using their senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) to trigger memories.
• A variety of exercises to generate memory-based writing.
• Using details and drama to bring their stories to life.
• Various methods for structuring their life stories.

Course Outline:

• How do memoir, autobiography and other forms of life writing differ?
• Why life writing?
• Memory-based free writing exercises and other techniques to get started.
• Bring your story to life: using detail, drama and all the senses in your writing
• What structure suits your story? Exploring Different story structures.
• Fine-tuning your story: rewriting vs revision.

What to bring:

Please bring a notebook and pen.

About the tutor:

'Pat Cranney has been a professional writer, editor, writing teacher and producer for nearly 40 years. He has facilitated individuals from many backgrounds and diverse communities all over Australia to tell their stories on the page, stage, screen, and airwaves. As a playwright, he has won two Australian Writers Guild AWGIE Awards out of a total of eight nominations. In 2001, he received a Centenary Medal; for services to Australian society in writing for the stage. In 2021, he won the CBAA Community Radio Award for Excellence in Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasting as the producer of 90.1 NBC FM’s ‘Days in Australia’, a bi-lingual podcast series based on life writing by Chinese migrants in Australia. He has Master’s degrees in Writing (1997) and Journalism (2018) from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).'

Other Information:

• To ensure resources are ready for you at the start of your course, we ask you ideally enrol at least one week before the course commences.
• All courses need a minimum number of students to run ("we try our hardest to get those") . If your course does not have enough students it will be cancelled prior to the commencement and you will be informed.