Session I: The 3-Act Paradigm
* Saturday, March 13, 2:00-4:30 pm

Session II: Alternative & Hybrid Structures
* Saturday, March 20, 2:00-4:30 pm

Hosted via Zoom • Live

“We often turn to memoir for wisdom rather than form. But sometimes the form is the wisdom." —Stephanie Burt

You’ve written a draft of your memoir... a series of personal essays... a few vignettes. Now what? How do you revise, organize, put the pieces together?

Structure is more than a container, it’s a dynamic expression of voice, character and theme. This seminar will examine how writers of memoir and memoir-based fiction shape their work.

We will analyze elements of the 3-Act Paradigm as well as alternative and hybrid structures, and explore how the shape of a memoir, its organizing principle, comes from inside the story. Seminar format includes advance readings, class handouts, lecture, and Q&A.

Connie Josefs is a writer, teacher, and memoir coach. She has led workshops in memoir and fiction for 30 years and has taught at UNM Albuquerque, Southwest Writers, The Taos Writers Conference, and Santa Monica College. She holds an MFA from Antioch LA and has worked as a writer and story analyst for film and television.