Spencer Public Library – TELLING YOUR LIFE STORY: MEMOIR WRITING

Monday, June 19, 2023 – 6PM

Join Mary McSwain Steele and Steve Steele as they start you on your way to writing your memoirs with tips for productive writing habits, memory prompts, story structure, publishing tips and more. Registration is required. Go online to the Spencer Public Library’s website calendar or call 712-580-7290.

Telling Your Life Story

Everyone has a story to tell to share with their children and grandchildren, and others. This workshop will give an overview of how would-be authors can take their journals, letters, photographs, and documents and turn them into a memoir.

A memoir is a book-length narrative that is told from the writer’s point of view and captures a meaningful event or period in the writer’s life or in the life of someone the author knows well. 

Anyone wanting to preserve their history but needing help determining how to tell their story in the form of a memoir is encouraged to attend this free workshop at 6 p.m., June 19^th, at Spencer Public Library.

Mary McSwain Steele and Steve Steele will lead the session. They have just completed a memoir they wrote together, Times They Are A Changin:’ A Look Back At The Past Seven Decades By A Couple Happily Married (Most Days) For 50+ Years. Mary is also the author of Betty: A Memoir.

This introductory workshop will help you get started, or if you’ve already started writing, the session will help you polish your skills.

Topics include:

• Developing habits that can help writers be more productive
• Basic writing techniques
• Memoirs should be accurate and truthful
• Memory prompts
• Identifying the theme or focus: significant moments, stories, lessons learned, challenges, or time periods in the writer’s life
• Story structure
• Helpful apps for writers
• Recognizing some of the reasons for “writer’s block” and how to avoid it
• Options for publishing your story, regardless of whether it is only for family and friends or for the general public.