Personalized class with live weekly calls: 8 weeks for $575

I used to offer an intensive eight-week class that would sell out the same day. (One time the first eight spots sold out in six minutes!) Now I'm offering a private version of the class that is customized to your writing needs. This means that each week I tailor your assignment to what your book needs most. This is based on a preliminary read of your writing plus your previous week's assignment.

We meet up each week for a private session, an hourlong discussion via Skype or Hangouts. You also get a weekly lecture and assignment, sometimes a video and Powerpoint presentation. By the end of our eight weeks together, I'll send you a total of 18 lectures and 15 videos.
ABOUT THE PERSONALIZED CLASS
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In this class, you’ll spend lots of time crafting new pages of your book. You’ll also get tons of info from me in the form of weekly lectures as well as recorded on-camera lectures. We’ll spend a great deal of time talking about the structure of your book with multiple exercises devoted to linking the scenes in your chapter together (the basis for good chapter structure).

These are some of the potential topics we’ll cover in class, depending on what you need the most:
  • Avoiding the “This happened, then this” problem with effective chapter structure
  • Using a point to construct your chapters
  • Creating effective transitions to stitch your scenes together
  • Deviating from chronology using flashbacks
  • Avoiding common writing errors
  • Global book structure revisited
 
SUMMARY OF CLASS FORMAT

What you’ll get from me:
  1. Written lectures: Each week you’ll receive a written lecture from me that runs about seven to ten pages. This lecture covers a topic critical to the successful writing of your memoir. At the end of this written lecture, you’ll find your weekly assignment.
  2. Recorded lectures: In addition to your written lecture, you’ll often receive a recorded lecture, consisting of me on-camera talking about a particular aspect of memoir writing. This may be related to the written lecture, but there will always be new information in the recorded lecture. This video is yours to keep and review as many times as you like.
  3. Written feedback. Each week you'll receive an assignment that is directly related to crafting the pages of your memoir. Prior to our call, I'll give you written feedback to this assignment.
  4. Weekly Skype or Hangouts call: Each week we'll speak for an hour about your work and a particular memoir-writing concept that I want you to grasp.

OPTIONAL READING ASSIGNMENTS
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There is no required reading for class, though in a couple of lectures and videos, I do reference two memoirs, which you might choose to read:

  1. Now I See You by Nicole C. Kear: The story of a nineteen year old who only has a decade before she goes completely blind and decides to make the most of her life before then. This is a light and funny book (in spite of its dark subject matter). It’s well constructed – and the fact that the prose is airy and easy to read makes it easy to find structure in its pages.
  2. Everything You Ever Wanted by Jillian Lauren: Here’s the Amazon description: “In her younger years, Jillian Lauren was a college dropout, a drug addict, and an international concubine in the Prince of Brunei’s harem, an experience she immortalized in in her bestselling memoir, SOME GIRLS. In her thirties, Jillian's most radical act was learning the steadying power of love when she and her rock star husband adopt an Ethiopian child with special needs.” The prose is lovely in this book. The author also gives us the illusion that she’s giving us the story of her life – but she does this with a controlled use of structure that never gives us the “This happened, then this” sensation.


The cost of eight weeks with Wendy is $575. This includes eight one-on-one calls and 18 lectures. For more information or to sign up, write to Wendy at writerwendydale@gmail.com

Self-guided classes that  are super affordable: 8 weeks for $80

Fundamentals of Memoir Writing: Course I 
Learn the concepts critical to writing your memoir. A special emphasis is place on memoir structure, the concept of turning real-life events into plot.
Topics include:
  • Create global structure for your memoir, using an external search that evolves along the way.
  • Structure your chapters using either causality or a premise to connect your events and create plot.
  • Learn the tricks of creating suspense in your chapter.
  • Create compelling characters by disregarding conventional advice to make them three-dimensional.
  • Craft compelling prose by being completely subjective.
  • Avoid self-pity or villianizing your characters by putting us inside your head.

The cost of the self-directed class is $80. Write to Wendy at writerwendydale@gmail.com for more information or to sign up.

Advanced Memoir Writing: Course II

The advanced course delves into memoir-writing topics such as structure and prose in more depth.  Specific things you will learn:
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  • Avoid the “This happened, then this” problem in your chapters.
  • Create chapter structure by making or point or using a thread.
  • Create effective transitions to stitch your scenes together.
  • Make dialogue better by fixing your attributions.
  • Understand the difference between an external and an internal search and why this is so important to creating global structure
  • Create an ending to your book that follows the rules of structure but that isn't predictable.
The cost of the advanced self-directed class is $80. Write to Wendy at writerwendydale@gmail.com for more information or to sign up.