Women Writing Memoir

“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?
The world would split open.” —Muriel Rukeyser

This free 90-minute webinar is an exploration and a conversation—about women writers and what women memoirists allowed to write. We will focus on the concerns so many of us face:

• How much is too much to share?
• Will I be judged, and how can I push past those fears to write my truth?
• Why is women's behavior scrutinized in ways that their male writer counterparts' is not?
• Am I expected to tell all, and what can I do to protect myself/my boundaries?

On May 18, memoir mentors Brooke Warner and Linda Joy Myers will look at memoirs that take on taboo topics and emotions—anger/rage; sex/sexual behavior; being an ambivalent mother; selfishness; being the "victim," and so much more.

We'll discuss tough realities—like internalized misogyny and how and why we might judge other women. We'll talk about how to give yourself more permission on the page, and how to support yourself in a world that seems to enjoy cutting women writers down. We'll encourage you to consider your own barriers, and we'll elevate other women writers who've gone before you so you'll see role models out there, women whose shoulders you stand on as you make your way.

For this free event, there's time built in for conversation, questions, expression, and whatever else comes up as we explore this complex topic that every woman memoirist grapples with at some point in her writing process.

We look forward to being with you in . . .

Join us as we explore some of the following questions and ideas:

• What holds you back from writing your whole truth—and what would it take to remove some or all of those barriers?
• How can you write well about being a victim, or having suffered traumas at the hands of others?
• Do you have to reveal everything to write an authentic memoir?
  

• How can we support women writers, and what are some self-inquiries to consider when we dislike a woman writer's memoir?
• How to we manage our own judgments toward writers whose work we find agitating?
• What can we learn from memoirists who are putting it all out there?