“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.”
-Rudyard Kipling
Write Your Life Story
Guided Autobiography Workshops
Write Your Life Story Guided Autobiography Workshops guide you through writing short stories from your life based on themes. A new theme is presented each week (a branching point in your life, family, friendships, life work, etc.) along with questions that help “prime” your memories. Other memory prompts and exercises are done in class that helps get your creative juices flowing. You’ll also receive writing tips that help to engage your reader in your story.
The next week you bring your story to the workshop to share in a small group setting where you will receive encouragement and also hear wonderful stories from others in the small group. Often, hearing the stories from others will prompt a memory or story that you can add to your growing list of stories to write. It’s a wonderful experience when someone exclaims, “I forgot I knew that!”
Write Your Life Story Guided Autobiography ONLINE Workshop:
Free Introductory Session: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 at 3 p.m. ET
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Write Your Life Story Six-Week Workshop Series
Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
September 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, and October 7
Cost: $169 includes all course materials
for the six-week workshop
Space is limited to maintain a pleasant experience for participants. Contact 574-298-1254 or email dawnszabo@blueskylifestories.com and secure your spot.
No writing experience is required for this workshop: Yes, this is a writing workshop, but you don’t need to worry about grammar or spelling. There are no red pens! First drafts don’t have to be perfect; they just have to be written. This workshop is about capturing your stories and getting them down on paper. The editing process can come later when you decide whether to print your memoirs in a lovely notebook, a paperback book, or even an heirloom quality hardcover book. We can help with everything from light editing to a custom book design and the final printing.
What you will experience in the workshop:
- Sharpen your pencil or wiggle your fingers over a keyboard. Both methods of capturing your story are perfect!
- You’ll share your story in a comfortable small group, and you’ll listen to stories from others.
- You will hear inspiring stories, learn something new, and you may consider another point-of-view.
- You’ll have at least five short stories by the end of the workshop series and have ideas for many more stories.
Why take a workshop from Dawn?
I have a passion for helping people tell stories from their lives and I want to help you tell yours. I became a Certified Birren Institute Guided Autobiography Instructor so I could help draw out your stories. I love the theme-based approach developed by Dr. James Birren, who researched and developed Guided Autobiography in the mid-1970s while he was the founding dean of the Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California. The memory prompts and priming questions draw out stories that have sometimes been forgotten, yet are often treasured memories.
Workshop Details
I offer both in-person and online workshops throughout the year. Check back here or contact me for upcoming events.