Class Title: "Start Small Finish Big: From Memoir Vignette to Publication, Part One" Instructors: Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett Class Term: Winter 2008 (8 weeks: Jan 19-Mar 16) enroll in this class Synopsis Part One of this two-part course is designed to help you write your memoir by "starting small." Our class will cut that "book monster" down to size. Through a series of instructional videos, creative exercises, and writing assignments that use your own family photos, treasured mementos and even recipes as triggers to memory, you'll find your unique voice, and develop your personal style of expression. Then we'll help you "Finish Big." Although actual publication of one or more of your stories will come at the end of Part Two (to be taught in Winter 2009), you'll start getting ready now. The author who doesn't start planning for publication until her book is finished has lost valuable time. We'll show you how to use the Internet to begin creating your own readership. Following our simple steps, you'll create a base of family, friends, and fans who'll be interested in buying your memoir when it comes out. Writing for your family rather than for publication? That's great too. These same Internet skills will let you share your life stories on a continuing basis with those close to you. You do not have to take both parts of this course to benefit from the instruction. However, students will not be able to enroll in Part Two until they have completed Part One. Class Description In this class, we'll use technology to "meet" as a group. We will use a website for video instruction, a website blog to share written assignments, and conference calls to facilitate the group process. The 15-30 minute audio-video instructional material will be posted on the website each Friday and includes an assignment. Class participants play the video through their computers and work on the assignment during the week. The writer emails her finished assignment to us and we post them on our class-only website blog. At an agreed-to time, probably Thursday evening (5PM west coast and 8PM east coast), we'll hold a one-hour conference call using FreeConferenceCall for questions, answers, reading of memoir vignettes, and general encouragement. The instructors will provide both written and oral critiques. The conference call is recorded and will be posted on the website so that anyone who has to miss a call can still have the benefit of the discussion. Class Outline This course is made up of six units. Each week, you can expect to spend 15-30 minutes viewing the instructional videos and completing brief writing exercises associated with the videos; 1-3 hours writing memoir vignettes (400-500 words in early weeks and 800-1000 in final week) and creating social networking experiences; and 60 minutes participating in the class conference call. Unit One. Memoir overview, types of memoirs, memoir interrelationships (content, format, audience); five essences of a memoir. Unit Two. Overview of how writers can write their way to success using the Internet; information on social networking sites; detailed information on setting up and using a free account on Gather.com. Unit Three. Use of dialogue to enhance a vignette and bring characters to life Unit Four. Detailed information on setting up and using a free account on Facebook.com. Unit Five. Building a sense of place and time into your memoir vignette; using the five senses to create a vivid image of place and time in your writing Unit Six. Alternative ways to end a memoir vignette Student Skills, Equipment required We have worked with writers with varying degrees of experience and are delighted to have students at all writing levels. All participants need to be able to create and email a Word .doc file on a weekly basis. Everyone must have an Internet connection with adequate speed/bandwidth to view the weekly instructional video. All class participants also need to be receptive to learning new Internet skills, such as using social networking sites. The class will involve six hour-long conference calls. Tuition/Fees for this course SCN members: $250. Non-SCN members: $275. Media fee: $50 (includes instructional video on class website, posting to class blog) Part 2 (Enrollment requires completion of Part 1) Instructor Bios Matilda Butler teaches women's memoir writing classes with the goal of helping women tell their life stories whether for personal understanding, family and friends, business marketing, or commercial publication. Her collective memoir, Rosie's Daughters: The "First Woman To" Generation Tells Its Story, has just been awarded the 2008 IPPY National Book Award, women's issues category. Butler taught and conducted research at Stanford University, created the nationwide Women's Educational Equity Communication Network, and co-founded Knowledge Access International, a software company specializing in CD-ROM information products. She has published more than 50 articles about women, contributed chapters to published books about women in education and work, co-authored the award-winning book Women and the Mass Media and co-edited the book Knowledge Utilization Systems in Education. Kendra Bonnett uses her extensive marketing experience, writing talent and Internet know-how to help women, whether authors or entrepreneurs (there really isn't much difference), utilize 21st century technology to increase book sales and expand their businesses. She is the co-author of Rosie's Daughters: The "First Woman To" Generation Tells Its Story, has written more than 200 magazine articles, authored four books (The Everyone Can Build a Robot Book; ACT IT: Using Your Computer in School; The Creative Printmaster; an IBM Guide to Doing Business on the Internet), and ghostwritten five books for prominent business executives. As a business executive, Bonnett has 20 years experience in direct marketing, public relations, and marketing communications for both international corporations and smaller, entrepreneurial firms. She co-founded Digit, one of the first computer magazines for children, and Profit: Information Technology for Entrepreneurs and Beyond Computing, a joint magazine publishing venture between IBM and The New York Times.