Write your memoir

This course is for anyone who dreams of writing a memoir, but doesn't know how to go about it. The course offers expert, one-on-one training, line by line, from a professional writer, and provides a foundation in the craft of memoir. Learn how to set up a writing schedule, plan your memoir and start the process of putting your life story into words.

Course details:
Modules: seven modules
Duration: six months
Course fee: R5,495
Start date: at any time, applications all year round

Student completes several writing exercises and a preliminary start of at least 10,000 words with one-on-one instruction from a tutor

Tutor:
Lisa Lazarus has co-written her memoir The Book of Jacob (Oshun) with her husband about the first year with their son, Jacob. Julia Denny-Dimitriou, writing for the Natal Witness, regarded this memoir as "the book that affected me most [in 2009]...A courageous and beautifully written book." She also works as a freelance journalist for a variety of publications, including Men's Health, Femina, Psychologies, Shape, Cosmopolitan, Femina, Healthy Pregnancy and the Mail & Guardian.
She has a master's degree in educational psychology. She is currently completing her master's in creative writing at UCT.

Admission requirements:
-Students must be proficient in the English Language
-Email and internet access required
-No previous tertiary qualification required

Curriculum:

Module one - an introduction to memoir
-What is memoir?
-Why do people write memoirs?
-How to overcome some common fears about writing memoir
-What you can expect from this course?
-Exercise: construct a schedule, your expectations for the course, and warm-up writing exercises.

Module two - the basics
-Different types of memoir
-Understanding theme and point of view
-Finding your voice
-Reading memoirs
-Exercise: your memoir proposal, and discuss voice, theme and point of view in a memoir of your choice.

Module three - characterisation
-The narrator versus the protagonist
-Getting to know your protagonist
-The central character - you
-Memory triggers
-Other characters
-Assembling a cast of vivid, believable major and minor characters
-Exercise: using memory triggers and a brief scene in which two of your characters interact.
-Text installment: 700 words

Module four - plot
-Plot versus story
-The key elements of plot
-Classic and alternative plot structures
-Sub-plots
-Exercise: the plot outline of your memoir
-Text instalment: 1,500 words

Module five - setting
-The environment: place, weather, light, sound, textures = atmosphere
-Exercise: the setting of your memoir
-Text instalment: 2,000 words

Module six - putting scenes together
-Scenes, chapters and paragraphs
-Transitions, beginnings and endings
-Exercise: practice writing transitions
-Text instalment: 2,000 words

Module seven - writing style
-Good and bad style tips
-Finding your own style
-Exercise: examine your own writing style
-Text instalment: 2,500 words
-Final text instalment: 10,000 words

Date: 07 September 2017
Venue: Online correspondence course, Countrywide
Cost: R5,495

Date: 28 September 2017 to 28 September 2016
Venue: Online correspondence course, Countrywide
Cost: R5,495

Date: 05 October 2017
Venue: Online correspondence course, Countrywide
Cost: R5,495

Date: 26 October 2017
Venue: Online correspondence course, Countrywide
Cost: R5,495

Date: 02 November 2017
Venue: Online correspondence course, Countrywide
Cost: R5,495

Date: 30 November 2017
Venue: Online correspondence course, Countrywide
Cost: R5,495

Date: 07 December 2017
Venue: Online correspondence course, Countrywide
Cost: R5,495

Date: 21 December 2017
Venue: Online correspondence course, Countrywide
Cost: R5,495

Date: 04 January 2018
Venue: Online correspondence course, Countrywide
Cost: R5,495

Date: 25 January 2018
Venue: Online correspondence course, Countrywide
Cost: R5,495