Transform Your Personal Story into a Memoir that Reveals the Legacy of Your Life
I know you want to write an amazing memoir that reflects your journey.
Things have happened in your life that you feel compelled to share with the world, for a variety of personal reasons.
But the challenge is that you’re afraid you don’t have the confidence or writing skills to “do it right.”
You’re afraid of the pain you’ll feel when writing about certain experiences.
You have doubts that anyone will be interested in your story.
And you’re afraid other people, particularly family members, will be hurt when they read what you’ve written. You’re even afraid one of them might threaten to sue you.
And here’s why:
Just thinking about writing a book can be a daunting, overwhelming idea. Especially if you’ve never done it before.
Lots of people struggle with these same thoughts when they think about writing a memoir. Still, they’re compelled to share their story.
I know you’re wondering, where do I start?
How do I know what to leave in and what to take out?
How do I protect myself from being sued by someone in my story?
You want to write a memoir that will not just tell your story, but inspire others in a similar situation.
You hope other people will be uplifted and gain new confidence from reading about the challenges you’ve overcome.
Week 7 - Universal Connections: Finding Your Theme
When you learn about themes, you’ll have a strong foundation of support - like a mission statement for a business - for your entire book. When you have a clear idea of what your story is about, it will be easy to focus on the individual scenes. You’ll know right away if a certain scene supports your story and moves it forward. When readers can relate to a particular theme, they will be more interested in your personal story. In this module, we’ll look at:
- The universal themes we all respond to
- How to discover the theme that will take your story to a higher, more emotional level.
- What to do if a theme isn’t readily identifiable
INTRODUCING...
A 7-Week LIVE Online Masterclass with Carolyn V. Hamilton, Memoir Writing Coach and author of The 5 Important Parts of a Successful Memoir & Why You Need Them
Discover how to apply 5 essential elements that will take your personal story from idea to inspiring memoir so you can share your journey with the world while changing lives.
WEEK #1 - Getting Started the Easiest Way
In our first week we lay out the keys to success to create a strong story outline that flows in a way that keeps your reader engaged. You’ll learn how to see the big picture of your story so that you’ll know what to leave in and what to take out. We’ll address:
- How to create a chronological list of events that show your story
- How to work the right way from diaries and journals
- How to think in scenes
WEEK #2 - How to do a Fast First Draft & Hook Your Reader
One of the most sensitive challenges that memoir writers face is how to write about strong emotions and painful memories. You’ll learn how to avoid emotional flooding and how to express your feelings in constructive ways. In this module, you’ll learn:
- Present Tense or Past Tens
- To Prologue or Not to Prologue
- Introductions and Epilogues
WEEK #3 - Your Story, Your Feelings: Writing About Strong Emotions
One of the most sensitive challenges that memoir writers face is how to write about strong emotions and painful memories. You’ll learn how to avoid emotional flooding and how to express your feelings in constructive ways. In this module, you’ll learn:
- The Role Emotions Play in Your Story
- The Vocabulary of Emotions
- When It Can Be Okay to Use Swear Words and Politically-incorrect Language.
WEEK #4 - Scene Purpose & Structure: Showing Instead of Telling
This module begins with learning how to break your story into scenes, and how to tell which ones are critical, and which ones you could leave out. You’ll gain a clearer picture of the strengths of your memoir as you begin to see it in an almost-movie-like format. You’ll discover:
- How to use the five senses to make your scene come alive
- How to build tension
- How to describe what happened in a way that will make your reader be able to instantly visualize your story
MODULE #5 - The Importance of Dialogue: Who is Speaking & What Are They Saying?
Strong memoirs–just like best-selling novels–include dialogue in scenes to bring the story alive for the reader. This module will cover how to learn to write dialogue when you can’t remember exactly what was said, and how to make it sound natural and move the story forward. You’ll learn:
- A sure-fire “trick” to learn to write snappy, memorable dialogue.
- When you can break writing “rules” in dialogue
- The best way to write attributions
WEEK #6 - The Power is in the Details: Adding Color and Imagery to Your Writing
Details are a major contribution that makes your story come alive for your reader. She wants to know what things looked, sounded, and smelled like. She wants to know how long it took to get from point A to point B. She wants to know where you are. In this module you’ll discover:
- How to tell which details are important and which are superfluous
- How to correctly use similes and metaphors
- How to keep track of all those details
I'm Carolyn.
When I wrote my first memoir, Coming to Las Vegas, A true tale of sex, drugs, & Sin City in the 70s, my goal was simply to share a bunch of funny stories about working as a cocktail waitress in a major new Las Vegas Hotel/Casino.
I didn’t give much thought about what to leave in and what to take out. I went by gut instinct, just writing my story as I remembered it.
For years, I wasn’t that motivated, and notes remained in a drawer (this was before computers took over our lives!) I figured “someday” I’d get around to it.
Thirty-eight years later, I finally realized “someday” isn’t a day of the week!
I finally polished off those stories, organized them in chronological order, and finished the darn thing.
I still saw it as a collection of funny stories… so imagine my surprise, when that book became a #1 best-seller in Amazon’s History of the Workplace and LGBTQ and Gender Studies categories!
My second memoir about my 30+ year relationship with my stand-up comedian, was a more serious endeavor. I wanted to show the fine line between comedy and cruelty (verbal abuse).
But first, I had to work through and overcome some serious emotional and judgemental issues. I wanted to write down my pain, yet be balanced and fair in the end.
I wanted to show what happened–the good, the bad, and the insane–and let the reader make their own judgment.
Now I want to help you write your memoir in a much more timely manner.
That's why I've created MEMOIR TO LEGACY, this 7-week Masterclass.
14-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE
If you aren’t completely satisfied with your Memoir to Legacy Masterclass, let me know within the first 14-days for a full refund. No questions asked.
Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)
How hard is it going to be for me to complete this course?
If you plan your days in advance, schedule a few hours to do your homework and follow through, this won’t be difficult for you at all.
How much time will I need to devote to complete this course?
Approximately three to five hours each week in addition to the weekly group coaching meetings is recommended.
Do I need any special equipment?
Good internet connection will be an asset. Otherwise, no special equipment is necessary.
Do I need strong internet skills to do this course?
If you can simply click on the Zoom link in your emails for the weekly group coaching calls, you’ll be fine. As for actually writing your memoir, any word processing program will work, or you can write longhand, the old-fashioned way.
Does your course require specific knowledge or experience?
Nope. Just your life experience that you want to write about.
What if I miss a Group Coaching Session?
A recording of each group coaching session will be available on your class-members-only website.
Do I have to finish the course in a certain time period?
There’s no hard requirement to finish your Memoir to Legacy class within the 7 weeks of scheduled class time. Having said that, you will get the most out of your class if you can attend each weekly group coaching session, and read and review each week’s videos and downloads.
What if I don’t reach my word count goal in 7 weeks?
As previously mentioned, there are no hard deadlines here. Memoir to Legacy is designed to help you write a heartfelt, compelling memoir. Scheduled work time on your part will make the process easier for you. Ideally, you’ll want to finish a rough, first “vomit” draft by the end of our 7 weeks, making it that much easier for you to edit and complete your final manuscript in a timely manner of your choosing.
What if I can’t remember exactly what the people in my story said?
This is a common question that comes up around the subject of dialogue. Not to worry. It’s perfectly okay to paraphrase what someone said. The point of dialogue is to reveal information and move your story forward, and as long as you achieve that, their exact works are not critical.
What if this process becomes too painful to bear?
Sometimes an “emotional time-out” may be in order. As long as you have a plan and are committed to telling an honest story, you can stop for a few hours or days and re-group.
What about confidentiality?
By participating in Memoir to Legacy, you automatically agree to respect the confidentiality of your fellow students. However, memoir, by definition, is a process of revealing information in a personal story , in a personal way. We don’t know the people in another person’s story, so we understand that there’s no point in violating a confidentiality.