Do you have a story to tell based on your own life or family history? How can you capture these moments and bring them vividly to life?

This popular six-week course offers an intimate, safe and relaxed environment in which to begin, or reinvigorate, your life story. What form will the story take? How should you tell it? Where to begin and end? These questions are some of the threads that will be teased out and woven into the unique pattern that is your story. We will start with small, manageable details accessed through the five senses, and combine creative imagination with memory and research to unlock character, narrative and theme.

The course will run from 10am on each Saturday between 3 September – 8 October.

“The course has been wonderfully informative and inspirational led by Rosemary in her quiet, gentle intelligent manner. I have been introduced to structures and strategies, ideas and innovations that will serve me well in the future. I have been driven to read more avidly and write more spontaneously and for both I am extremely grateful… I would throughly recommend the course to others and am extremely grateful for Rosemary’s efforts on all our behalf during our Saturdays together.”

– B. Powell

“She was the perfect teacher for what I wanted from the course. Her writing tools are invaluable and the encouraging supportive environment key to opening ourselves to the others in the class. This gave us the confidence to explore our writing capability. I would highly recommend Rosemary to anyone aspiring to write.”

– C. Silbert

“The course facilitator displayed a wide ranging knowledge of the subject and enhanced the tuition with thought provoking exercises in writing on a variety of topics and in imaginative ways.”

– C. Herring

“Wonderful course. Rosemary was a fantastic leader of the course. She was understanding, thoughtful, intuitive, sensitive and encouraging.”

– C. Ryan

Program:

3 September – Week 1: The value of sensuous detail. Exercises to demonstrate the use of all 5 senses. This helps access memories more fully, leading to vivid writing.

10 September – Week 2: Storytelling: Scene, summary and reflection. How to integrate these three essential elements to tell a good story, whether memoir, biography or family history.

17 September – Week 3: Brainstorming: Through the use of simple techniques we will discover connections between fragments of information and memory, turning them into coherent stories.

24 September – Week 4: Sketching a scene. Using old photographs and memorabilia, we will recreate the past, exploring the fine line between fact and fiction as we use our imagination to bring places and people to life.

1 October – Week 5: Character: Exercises for the authentic portrayal of character; one of the most important aspects of your story, whose relationships and actions create narrative drive.

8 October – Week 6: An introduction to structure. Exercises to demonstrate the many ways of shaping a story: where to begin and how to end. Review and previews: bringing it all together.

Due to limited spaces, we cannot offer ticket refunds. If you have purchased tickets to a workshop and can no longer attend, you are welcome to pass along your ticket to somebody else. Please notify us if you wish to do so at: info@centreforstories.com

Please note that proof of double vaccination (or medical exemption) is required when entering the Centre for Stories.