May 5, 2009; Vol. 2, No 9  


   Story Circle Online Classes

Since 1997, the Story Circle Network has been the only lifewriting program designed exclusively for women. We offer learning opportunities in memoir, reminiscence, journaling, poetry, family stories, kitchen table stories, writing-as-healing, writing for personal growth and spiritual development, poetry, blogging, and others. We teach general writing skills, organization, and critical editing, as well as technical skills in book design and development, online marketing, blogging, and other Internet-related activities.

For full class listings, faculty bios, enrollment, and more, visit our website.



Hoping to Polish Your Skills?


Our experienced teachers can help you sharpen your skills and polish your prose. SCN's next series of classes begins May 11 and ends July 6. Online enrollment is easy and fast, but class sizes are strictly limited, so please hurry. If the class you want is already filled, try another—or check back with us in a few weeks, when we'll be listing our July-September classes.

•"What to Keep: Connecting with Future Generations."
Taught by Robin Reger, journalist, editor, and writing teacher.

You're special. No one else's life has been exactly like yours. But your experiences are universal: everyone has felt the disappointment of a goal not realized, the joy of a new friendship, the love for a special someone, the delight in something new. These universal experiences, these memories, can create a connection between us, a bond between writer and reader. more

•"Finding Your Voice."
Taught by Amber Starfire, publisher and editor of The Writer's Eye Magazine, freelance editor, writer, and photographer.

Each person, and therefore each writer, has a unique way of seeing and experiencing life. Each writer also has a unique style, or "voice," a one-of-a-kind way of expressing herself. Yet it takes practice and skill to allow that voice to come through in your writing. What makes your writing authentic, real, and uniquely yours? Find out in this six-week exploration and discovery of your personal expression. more

•"The Craft of Memoir Writing: Memoir Devices and Story Structures."
Taught by Matilda Butler & Kendra Bonnett, co-authors of the award-winning Rosie's Daughters: The "First-Woman-to" Generation Tells Its Story.

Struggling to organize your memoir? Bored with a sequential story? Puzzled about how to use the vignettes and chapters you've written in various classes and on your own? Bring your problems to this class and we'll discuss story structure, your theme and message, and ways to pull all your work together to create a unique framework that helps reveal who you are... more

Please note: The memoir short-course startup date has been changed from May 7 to May 14.

•"Journaling from the Soul: Finding New Aspects in Each of Us."
Taught by Jennifer Culver, writing instructor, memoir teacher, teacher/district mentor for the National Writing Project.

When we take our first breath, our soul joins our bodies for a lifetime commitment to an incredible and unique journey. The language of the spirit is a language of myth, where the journey of the spirit contains explorations and trials fit for any epic. In this course we will explore ways to use journalling to connect with our spiritual lives in new ways, opening ourselves to new insights and new writing, writing that comes from the depths of who we are... more

•"Finding Joy in the Details: Using the 'Small' Stories to Tell the Large Stories of Your Life."
Taught by Erin Philbin, experienced writing circle facilitator, graduate student writing supervisor.

We all have wonderful stories that are unique and important, but we may feel overwhelmed when we try to write. We want to tell the "big" stories but are uncertain about where to begin. In this class, we will generate several stories built from chosen themes. It is the little stories, gathered together that tell the "big" story of our lives. more

•"Writing Wild! Using Nature and Place as Inspiration."
Taught by Susan Tweit, author, teacher, and writing coach.

An individually-tailored workshop with an award-winning writer and naturalist exploring how to write from and about nature and place, focusing on writing exercises, techniques, and markets. more



Looking for Personal Help with Your Writing?


If you are looking for professional help with a specific writing project, or searching for guidance and direction to improve your work, you'll want to check out SCN's Writing Mentorship Program. Professional writers are able to help you direct your energies, focus your talents, and produce your best work.


Interested in teaching an online class for SCN?


We are looking for women teachers/writers who want to share their passion for lifewriting by working with women (SCN members and non-members) in classes carried out on the Internet and via email. If you are a skilled writer with experience in teaching memoir, journaling, life-based fiction, and other lifewriting forms and are interested in joining our faculty, we'd like to hear from you.


Who We Are & How to Join Us


You don't have to be a member of Story Circle to enroll in our online classes, but we'd love to count you as one of our members. And there's a big plus! You'll save almost the cost of a membership by joining SCN and becoming eligible for a lower tuition.

Our mission: The Story Circle Network is dedicated to helping women share the stories of their lives and to raising public awareness of the importance of women's personal histories. We carry out our mission through publications, a web site, classes, workshops, writing and reading circles, and woman-focused programs. Our activities empower women to tell their stories, discover their identities through their stories, and choose to be the authors of their own lives.

Learn more about how SCN can help you tell your story. We offer

  • our quarterly print Journal, a newsletter with features on women's lifewriting
  • opportunities to publish your work
  • workshops, classes, online courses
  • writing circles
  • an Internet Chapter
  • Speaker's Bureau
  • much more

Membership categories:

  • Member: $35; Canada & Mexico: $45; International $50
  • Supporter: $70
  • Sponsor: $125
  • Patron: $200
  • Benefactor: $400+

Internet Chapter membership: $18
(To join the Internet chapter you must also be a member of the national organization; chapter dues are in addition to the national dues.)

To join, see our online membership form, or go to our web site & click on "Join" at the top of the page. You can pay online, or send a check to Story Circle Network, P.O. Box 500127, Austin TX 78750-0127



E-Letters


We publish four monthly e-Letters:

  • This e-Letter brings you information about our upcoming online classes and workshops.

  • The National e-Letter brings you writing tips, quotes, and book reviews.

  • The Story Circle Book Reviews e-Letter brings you information about book reviews and features.

  • The Internet Chapter e-Letter is sent only to members of the Internet Chapter; it features chapter news and events.

We appreciate your help in spreading the word about Story Circle Network. Please forward this e-Letter to anyone interested in lifewriting—family and friends, students, clients, members of your writing group.

If a friend has forwarded this to you, add your e-address and click below to get your own subscription.

To join any of our Story Circle Network e-Letter mailing lists, type your email address below, then click the 'Go' button:

To unsubscribe: see link at the very bottom of this email.




Story Circle Network
Story Circle Network
...for women with stories to tell

Meet Our Faculty:
Robin Reger & Amber Starfire
                Robin Reger                

Robin Reger is a professional writer and teacher who has encouraged and improved the writing skills of traditional university students, nontraditional college students, and nationally known corporate leaders. A graduate of Texas Christian University's acclaimed MA/PhD program in rhetoric and composition, she is currently restoring a century-old farmhouse and writing about it in Archer City, Texas, home to eighteen hundred people and five hundred thousand antiquarian books.

Robin is teaching "What to Keep: Connecting with Future Generations."


              Amber Starfire              

Amber Starfire is the publisher and editor of The Writer's Eye Magazine, a freelance editor, writer, and photographer. She earned her M.A. from Stanford University in Education (the design and development of Educational Programs). She has developed a variety of courses for schools and businesses, from one-day to 12-week courses in business and/or system processes, Effective Business Writing, and Journaling for Self-Discovery. She has taught at Foothill Community College in Los Altos California, and has developed coursework and training programs for a variety of business clients.

Amber is teaching "Finding Your Voice."

True Words for
Women Writers

"One function of the imagination in autobiographical writing is to allow the writer to try out different versions of the self."
—Marilyn Chandler

Story Circle Blog

Telling HerStories

Join the conversation about
our stories at
Telling Herstories: The Broad View

Story Circle Network Three Publications from SCN


Kitchen Table Stories

KTS cover   

Kitchen Table Stories is a 160-page soft-cover cookbook and story collection from SCN members, including over 70 recipes from our members together with their funny, heartwarming, and touching stories behind those recipes (click to see the table of contents). The beautiful cover is illustrated and designed by SCN member Katherine Misegades.

Available in a spiral binding (Special Edition) or perfect binding (Trade Edition).

Order the spiral bound Special Edition through the SCN cookbook web page: $18 plus shipping and handling.

What Wildness is This

What Wildness is This

What Wildness is This: Women Write About the Southwest celebrates women's experiences in the landscapes of the Southwest. Published by the University of Texas Press and Story Circle Network, this exciting collection is made up of memoir, creative non-fiction, essay, and poetry, and includes pieces by both emerging and established writers. See our book web site for more details.

Starting Points

            Starting Points            

Starting Points is SCN's writing prompt e-book. Based on the weekly writing prompts that Susan Albert sent to the Internet Chapter members for six years, this book is available for purchase as either a pdf download or in a spiral-bound edition (shown here). See the Starting Points web page for more details and to place your order with our bookseller, Lulu.com.

To read this e-Letter on our web site, click here: www.storycircleonlineclasses.org/newsletters/090505.html

This e-Letter is a publication of the Story Circle Network, (P.O. Box 500127, Austin TX 78750-0127). It is provided free, via e-mail, for women interested in lifewriting worldwide. ©2008-2009 Story Circle Network

Feel free to forward this e-Letter to friends and colleagues with appropriate credit to Story Circle Network.

This e-Letter is written and edited by Peggy Moody & Susan Wittig Albert.


      email: programdirector@storycircleonlineclasses.org
      voice: 512-454-9833
      web: www.storycircleonlineclasses.org