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The Memoir Project at the Writers’ Center of Indiana

A memoir is like a photograph because it creates a permanent marker of a moment.  We may keep hundreds of photographs, but we frame, display, and share the ones that most clearly reflect critical moments in our lives.

The Memoir Project provides the opportunity for people of all ages tell their life stories, using a curriculum helps them meaningful moments, see them in their minds’ eye, and bring them alive on the page in vivid, compelling scenes. 

What is a memoir?

• A memoir is the story of your life or a part of your life.

• A memoir may focus on a particular time, person, place, or event because the memoir focuses on what is important in your experiences.

• Memoir writing allows you to organize and shape your experiences into a written structure, which reflects meaning for not only you but for others as well.

 

Why write your memoirs?

• Writing a memoir validates your life to yourself and others.  In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, main character August reminds us, “Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here.”

• A written memoir leaves a legacy. There is an African proverb that reminds us, When an old man dies, a library burns down.

• Writing a memoir helps you make sense of your experiences, and better understand how they shaped your life.  Speaking about the writing process, poet William Stafford said, “The world happens twice: once what we see it as, second it legends itself deep, the way it was.”

 

The Writers’ Center of Indiana has successfully taught its Memoir Project curriculum to individuals and groups, both at the Center and throughout the community.  See links to our classes and projects below.  Call or email the center for more information about how we can help you or your organization participate in the Memoir Project at the Writers’ Center of Indiana. (317-255-0710/lynjones@indianawriters.org)

 “Memoir is how we validate our lives." —William Zinsser

 

Classes at WCI

Flanner House Memoir Project

Girls School Memoir Project

"To share our stories is not only a worthwhile endeavor for the storyteller, but for those who hear our stories and feel less alone because of it."

—Joyce Maynard

(317) 255-0710 . mailing address: P.O. Box 30407, Indianapolis IN 46230-0407 . street address: 812 East 67th Street, Indianapolis IN 46220