Having the Time of Your Life Writing Your Autobiography
Interested in writing the story of your life, but never thought of yourself as a writer? Maybe you once had aspirations of writing, but critique, or the responsibilities of life, derailed your dream? Or do you believe that only celebrities have life experiences worth recording for posterity? Autobiography writing can be described as, “the story of your best friend told by your worst enemy.” What is discovered through participating in a weekly Autobiography Writing Workshop is that it is not about grammar or exceptional prose, grades or competition. Living a life of destructive abandon isn’t required to have a story to tell. Autobiography is the journey that is uniquely your own, lived
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The initial 10 week Autobiography Writing Workshop exceeded the expectations of Chris, as the workshop facilitator, and the participating writers. Chris continues to hear memorable accounts, in the workshops that have followed the first endeavor. While a few of the stories might make the local news, probably none would receive national attention, but that isn’t the point of the journey. The experience of growth in the individuals and the group, from starting out, worried about how their writing will be received, to the excitement in meeting each week to learn more about themselves and the other participants. Sharing what they have written with the group, improves their writing skills and confidence as they find their own voice. Each participant selects two pages they wrote, inspired by a theme that brought back a memory, to read to the group. The writers are fascinated by each other’s stories. Often times, finding connections to our own journeys though the life experiences of others, even though our lives may have been quite different. Every week, at least one writer will express that another …show more content…
As Kierkegaard surmised, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” People in transitional times in their lives may find the workshop helpful as an opportunity to explore where they have been, where they are, and where are they going. Some of the participants write their autobiography as a legacy for their families. The writers have expressed concern and delight about what their children and grandchildren will think when they read stories they didn’t know about their family. Garth Dawson and his wife Bonnie have attended three Autobiography Workshops at different locations. Garth wrote his first autobiography, “Here’s Fifty” while he and Bonnie were teaching in Poland for the Peace Corps. Having an expectation to write at least two pages each week, has helped Garth with his sequel autobiography detailing the years after retirement and the adventures, challenges and lessons learned along the
When I decide to read a memoir, I imagine sitting down to read the story of someone’s life. I in vision myself learning s...
Stephen King’s “On Writing,” is a memoir of the author’s experiences as a writer and serves as a guidebook for those who choose to enter the craft of writing. Stephen King writes about his childhood and young adulthood, relating stories that made him the writer he has become. Stephen King then moves into the mechanics of writing, offering advice and insight into a successful career that has worked so well for him but remains distant for thousands of others.
On Monday nights I get together with a few friends to exchange ideas about writing and to exchange pieces that we have written. A few Mondays ago one of those friends was having the most fundamental of creative writing problems. "Why should I ever write anything?" she moaned. "Why should any of us? No one wants to hear anything I have to say because I have nothing new to say about any of it." After I, along with the rest of the group, tossed some sympathetic and half-heartedly reassuring words to her I had a thought. "Ultimately, everyone wants to feel like they are not alone. No matter how right or how wrong we think our lives are going or how right or wrong our thoughts are, we want to know that other people are there to support us because they empathize with our experiences." What I was trying to explain is the reasoning behind continuing to write creatively after thousands of years of recorded literature. What I also realized is that, unless the subject deals with some knew political or technological development, people have not really found any new subjects about which to write. Love is still as wonderful and painful as it has always been, death is still as mysterious, deception, betrayal, adventure, none of these things has changed and yet they are among the most commonly written on subjects. Why have we, as a race, not told ourselves that there is no new subject about which we can write and therefore that we should throw in the towel altogether? One reason may well be that humyns, in general, are loathe to admit our shortcomings and are, therefore, ultimately arrogant. But humyn beings are also ultimately lonely. Of course, there are many reasons people read: seeking excitement, research, etc. But why, for example, read a biography of a person you do not know? Because we want to relate to other people. We want to feel good about ourselves as people by reading about the happiness in another's life. We want to feel better about ourselves by reading that someone else has the same problems as we. We tire of our own lives, we get curious, we seek connection, and we want to hear stories about things that others have done that we, perhaps, have not.
The authors of the four memoirs overcame their childhood obstacles by going through an emotional and thought changing experience. Gary Soto accepted his family’s history of working in the fields. Laurence Yep had a self-esteem boosting experience with his father. Barack Obama had his father speak to him at his class. Julia Alvarez realized she was moving for her family’s safety. The authors of memoirs describe overcoming their obstacles to teach readers that anything is conquerable.
Out of these stories, the idea for a new workshop developed which will be run by Jude Bradley. She has been a journalist and editor for more than 35 years, will be holding a free workshop for anyone who wants to share their personal history; and learn to apply professional writing techniques to transform memories into memoirs. On Friday, April 1, 2016, from 10:00 a.m. to Noon.
Mellix, Barbara. ?From Outside, In.? Writing Lives: Exploring Literacy and Community. New York: St. Martin?s, 1996. 75-84.
In the summer of 1998 my family fled the newly created independent country of Croatia (Former-Yugoslavia) to the United States. My parents came here in hopes of finding a better life as the economy was still recovering from Croatia’s war of independence. We first settled in Amarillo, Texas for a few months. We traveled around the states for a year or so looking for other refugees. After some searching my parents decided to move to Connecticut as it offered the best incentives for refugees. Listening to stories about this time of my life has given me a chance to appreciate the help we received from various government programs that settled us, clothed us, fed us, and helped us become independent American citizens. Now I want to give back and the best way I know to do this is by teaching the future generations of Americans.
I will always remember the effect of a civil war in Nigeria that left hundreds of thousands of children malnourished. Tens of thousands of the rural population were afflicted with different types of diseases. Malaria fever was prevalent, and it was the main cause of death among children and infants. I can recall vividly sitting in an empty room after the end of the civil war in 1970, and assured my self that I must go beyond the confines of my continent – Africa to seek knowledge so as to assist in alleviating the suffering of my people. After I had graduated from high school, my dream of coming to the United States of America was far fetched reality. At that time in my life, coming to America was almost impossible. My family lost everything during the civil war. The civil war forced my parents to abandon their properties in the northern group of provinces, and returned to their ancestral home in the southern region. The soil is sandy and porous – the region suffers from soil leaching and soil erosion due to torrential rainfall. Harvests from our farms after six months of toiling under the heat of the sun were scanty. We barely eked out a living. Life then was harsh, and the future was blink. In spite of the odds confronting me, I was determined to forge ahead no matter what.
The authors of the four memoirs overcame their childhood obstacles by reconnecting with their family members. Gary Soto decided to connect with his mother and work in the fields, despite not wanting to. Laurence Yep overcame feeling left out by bonding with his father and learning he can be good at other activities. Barack Obama overcame not liking and understanding who he was by talking to his dad and seeing his heritage come to life. Julia Alvarez overcame feeling unsafe under her dictator's rule by her family members planning a trip to America without getting caught. Authors of memoirs describe overcoming obstacles to teach readers how family connection is important and very helpful.
and Other Greats : Lessons from the All-star Writer's Workshop. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.
I am not the kind of person who talks or writes much. Putting my thoughts on papers is something I have always struggled with doing. I believe this class will help me improve on transferring my thoughts to paper, in an organized fashion. I look forward to becoming a better writer because of this class.
In studying the advent of autobiography as a genre in its own right, it would seem to be a particularly modern form of literature, a hybrid form of biography. Also, the distinctions between the forms of the biography, personal history or diary and novel are becoming questioned in that the autobiography is not an account of wisdom accumulated in a lifetime but a defining of identity. 2
The healing process often occurs through writing an autobiography or biography because the writer soon begins to feel that others should learn from his/her experience, which bridges self-suffering and the outside world. Pathography demonstrates that healing oneself often involves reaching out to others, which writing does.
Waves I am a raging inferno of emotions. When I feel, I feel every single part of whatever it may be, even the ones they might think to be most insignificant. When I am cold, it feels as if hell has frozen over Earth. When I am sad, I do not find an ounce of happiness in the whole world.
My aspiration toward a better education starts all the way back to when I started school in Russia. Out of the short educational experience that I had in Russia, I remember that almost everybody wanted to be the straight-A student (or straight-"5" by Russian grading). That, combined with the constant pressure from my family helped me get excited about school and made me want to learn. My education in Russia was cut short, however, when we moved to the United States.