Make your memoir entertaining

When writing memoir or creative nonfiction the writer must think about her audience.

While writing about her life, she wants to be sure to entertain the reader. If the story is not entertaining or interesting enough to grab the reader, the memoir, which takes a long time and much work to create, will end up on a high shelf where no one thinks about it or reads it.

How does the writer do that? How does she make her life stories entertaining?

She uses the elements of fiction that draw readers to novels.

How to Hold Your Reader

Include dialogue in memoir. Readers don't skip dialogue. If they get bored with too much narration or description that goes on and on, they skip to the paragraphs of dialogue. Write in scenes as in a play or movie. Interaction between characters. Include action when possible.

Just as we write fiction, we want to grab our readers on the first page, in the first paragraph. Recently I heard editors say they choose a manuscript to publish by reading the first page.

Beginnings are important but first, get the story down. I teach my students to write true stories that could become part of their memoir, but the purpose of my classes is to learn the craft of writing. What is written in class might not end up in the final manuscript, but in the process the student is learning the best way to write his story.

WRITING YOUR MEMORIES INTO TRUE LIFE STORIES 

Glenda Beall, 6 Sessions, Tuesday, April 20 – May 25, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm, 

Cost: $20 

In today's busy world, grandparents seldom have the opportunity to spend quality time with their grandchildren, to tell them stories about what life was like in the twentieth century. Younger generations will not learn in history books what we can tell them. Did you grow up on a farm or in a city? Did you serve in the military and when? In this class, you will be encouraged to remember the important events of your life and write those memories in an entertaining and informative manner. 

Glenda C. Beall writes and teaches writing from her home in Hayesville, NC. She is the author of three books and has published poetry, memoir, and fiction in numerous journals and magazines. She is the program coordinator for NCWN-West, a program of the North Carolina Writers' Network. For over twenty years she has taught senior adults to write about their lives for their families. In early 2020, she learned to teach online and enjoys seeing her students on her screen. T

Click on this link for registration information: https://www.iclyhc.org/

Creative Writing Class in March 2020 open for registration now

We will soon be welcoming Spring and that means I will be teaching my Creative Writing Class at Tri-County Community College. If your writing has just gone stale and you can't seem to make yourself sit down and put words on paper, take this class. If you are a new writer and need some help from friendly folks, just like you, and a teacher who remembers what it was like in the beginning, register for this class. 

We will meet on Monday evenings, March 9 - March 30 at 6 - 8 PM on the campus of TCCC.

Description:
Creative Writing: Perhaps you want to write about yourself or other people you know, places you have been or family history. Perhaps you have always had stories wandering around in your brain and you want to write fiction. Not sure? Your questions will be answered to help you discover your writing niche. This class is for aspiring writers or others who need motivation to put words on paper.

Join this informative class and learn from Glenda Council Beall who lives in the mountains of western North Carolina and whose work has been widely published since 1996 in numerous journals, magazines and online reviews.  She is also the author of three books.

Eight hours of instruction, Mondays, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM at Tri-County Community College   $50.00

Register with Lisa Long, Director of Community Outreach, by calling 828-835-4241 or email her: LLong@tricountycc.edu

Comment from a writing student in 2018:

Glenda Beall's studio creates a safe atmosphere where I can be vulnerable in my learning, my writing and the group's critics. She imbues a tenderness of spirit that is contagious. It manifests as a well- grounded kindness that encourages the person and supports the writing process. ...Thank you, Glenda, for your many years of service to the writing communities. Sincerely and with much gratitude… Ayer G. (writing student, 2018)

Another former student:
Yours was the first writing course I’ve taken in years and you gave me not only many wonderful insights but lots of fun and very welcome encouragement....I’ve been thinking about applying for a low residency MFA program as I transition into retirement (again).
--- Don B. - student in class at John C. Campbell Folk School.

Our classes at TCCC are fun and informative. I am always delighted when the students say they don't want the classes to end.
No pressure, just encouragement and tips from knowledge I gleaned from my teachers and all the workshops I have taken for twenty-five years. Beginners are welcome. We will help you get your thoughts and memories on the page.
Put the dates on your calendar now and sign up now. 
Remember, if the class is not full a week before March 9, it might be cancelled.

Teaching again in March 2020

Instructor: Glenda Council Beall

Creative Writing: Perhaps you want to write about yourself or other people you know, places you have been or family history. Perhaps you have always had stories wandering around in your brain and you want to write fiction. Not sure? Your questions will be answered to help you discover your writing niche. This class is for aspiring writers or others who need some motivation to put words on paper.

Join this informative class and learn from Glenda Council Beall who lives in the mountains of western North Carolina and whose work has been widely published since 1996 in numerous journals, magazines and online reviews.  

Eight hours of instruction, Mondays, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM at Tri-County Community College   $50.00

Register by calling or emailing Lisa T. Long, Director of community Outreach/Assistant Director of Foundation.   828.835.4241
Email: LLong@tricountycc.edu  

Glenda says:
I am happy to be returning to TCCC for a four week class in March, 2020.
Please help get the word out. The class has to meet the minimum in order to make.

Tuition to this class would make a wonderful Christmas present for the writer in your life.

Order: Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins by Glenda Beall and Estelle Rice now as an e-book on Kindle.  Order a Kindle edition at: https://tinyurl.com/yaer6vsd

These writers came to Carol Crawford's workshop today

Photo by Carol Crawford

It is a joy to take a class with Carol Crawford and to have her come to my studio is even better. The photo above was taken today, Saturday, at Writers Circle around the Table.
 From left is Anne Bowman, Carol Gladders, Me, Diane Payne on the far end, Jerry Stripling, Nancy Meyers and Ayer Gresham. All of these people have taken my classes at my studio. They said they enjoy coming and getting to know other writers as well as learning.

Carol's workshop was fun and full of good information. She gave us writing assignments to do in class that helped us get away from the cliché and made us think of the best way to describe someone without the every day "drivers license" description--five feet, two inches tall, with black hair.

photo by Glenda Beall
Carol is standing at the far end of the table by the board. 

The writing assignment spurred me on to write about a family member. This often happens in workshops. We find that we become motivated to write, to get those words on paper now. Some of my best poems have come to light in a poetry class.

Isn't that what we want, to be inspired to write? 
 
 

 NEW CLASS COMING UP

 

I decided I could work in another six week course at the studio beginning on August 14. We will meet Tuesday afternoons, 2 - 5 PM. This creative writing course is 18 hours of class time. We write something fresh and new each week and we share it with our classmates. We are taking registration now.

 

Contact me at gcbmountaingirl@gmail.com if you want to register and I will give you information for sending a check.

 

Visit www.glendacouncilbeall.com and click on the Studio Schedule page for a class description.

 

Beginning in March, Glenda Beall teaches writing class at TCCC

Glenda  Beall teaches at TCCC in March

Title: Write Your Life Stories for Your Family or for Publishing

Location: Tri-County Community College, in Murphy, NC.
The dates:Tuesday afternoons, 6 - 8 p.m. March 24, 31 and April 7 and 14. 

I have taught adults to write stories about their lives for a number of years. The stories are often written for grandchildren or other family because the writer wants to leave a legacy of what life was like before cell phones, before computers and video games, before families were too busy and before they were scattered all over the country and around the world. The writer might want to tell about his family history for generations before him. 

Each of us has a unique story, and in this class the student will learn

• where to begin
• how to begin
• how to organize your work
• what to write and what not to write
• how to write so that your audience will want to read your stories

Each student will have several stories completed and written by the end of the course in an entertaining and interesting form. Each student will carry home a number of tools he/she can use in the future. If you have studied  with me in the past, you will not be bored. We will have new exercises and new topics to explore.

Classes for 2015

We are happy to have Paula Canup, former English teacher, writer and journalist, join our faculty in 2015. She will teach a workshop in March.  The date and time will be announced later.

We can always use a brush up on our basic skills and new writers often have forgotten those details of grammar that we learn in high school and college. I see many problems with new students such as when to use ellipses, where to place quotation marks in dialogue, what is an em dash and where to use it. How often can we use an exclamation point or when should we use it?

Put it on your calendar now to sign up for Paula’s class at Writers Circle next March.

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Glenda  Beall teaches at TCCC in March

I will be teaching in March at Tri-County Community College. The dates are: March 24, 31 and April 7 and 14. Time for all classes is 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. The title of the class is Write Your Life Stories for Your Family or for Publishing.

I have taught adults to write stories about their lives for a number of years. The stories are often written for grandchildren or other family because the writer wants to leave a legacy of what life was like before cell phones, before computers and video games, before families were too busy and before they were scattered all over the country and around the world. 

Each of us has a unique story, and in this class you learn

• where to begin
• how to begin
• how to organize your work
• what to write and what not to write
• how to write so that your audience will want to read your stories

Each student will have several stories completed and written by the end of the course in an entertaining and interesting form. Each student will carry home a number of tools he/she can use in the future. 

Thursday, December 1, will be the final class for the present Creative Writing course.
We will hold a two hour class 10:00a.m.  - 12:00 on non-fiction, memoir writing, and from noon until 2:00 p.m. we will discuss publishing - all kinds - all ways - and the pitfalls to be aware of in self publishing.
If you are not already enrolled in this course, but would like to attend either or both classes on December 1, please email for registration info.

Writers Circle will not hold classes again until next spring.
Join me at Tri-County Community College for a seven week writing course in April, 2012. Gosh, can it be as close as it seems?

We will have another great season of writing courses next year. Check with us so you don't miss anything.
You can contact me at nightwriter0302@yahoo.com with any questions.

A Delightful Day on a Mountaintop

Nadine, Ash, and Vicki



Nadine, Ash and Glenda

On this beautiful autumn day I was invited to join four former writing students at the home of Nadine J. on top of a mountain in north Georgia. We sat on her nicely appointed deck and feasted on a lovely lunch, enjoyed a bottle of wine with various desserts and laughed at the clever remarks of our dear friend, Ginny.

One of the nicest perks of teaching adults is finding friendships in the class. When the course ended, Ash Rothlein, a WWII veteran, enjoyed the others so much he invited them to the home he shares with his lovely wife, Liz, where they continued sharing their stories. I was included. Since that time, several years ago, we have all come to love each other.

Nadine's gritty and memorable stories about her childhood growing up in a coal mining camp will soon be compiled in a memoir. Meanwhile she designs interiors for fine homes all over the country.

Ash is involved in trying to reach descendants of those brave men buried above the beach in Normandy where he plans to be on the seventieth anniversary of that battle and on his 90th birthday. His writing consists of articles about his mission on D-Day for the Citizen-Times and other newspapers. Today he said he wants to motivate people to think about the lives lost in that war and the way our country came together as one after the fighting was over. Ash believes America can return to the way we were then. He is speaking to college students and sharing his story with all who listen, and those who listen find him captivating.

Writing has brought me joy in many ways, but finding friends such as Ginny, Vicki, Nadine, Ash and Liz is like the cherry on top of the whipped cream on the hot fudge sundae. We wrote down what we are thankful for in 2011, and these good friends were at the top of my list.

Date Change for Creative Writing classes by Glenda Beall

The dates for my creative wrting classes beginning September 27 have to be changed a bit. We will have no class on Tuesday, October 4. We will make up that class at the end of the session on a day that fits the schedule of all students.

If you have not sent in your registration for this class, send a check made to Writers Circle and mail to  581 Chatuge Lane, Hayesville, NC 28904.

We will cover beginning elements of  fiction first two weeks, Poetry, second two weeks and  non-fiction the last weeks of the class.
Email to receive a schedule of class titles. nightwriter0302@yahoo.com

First of Six Week Classes has Begun - but still room for you

The first of six weeks of Creative Writing began today at Writers Circle, my studio. Some missed the first class but that is not a problem. Each of the six week courses stands alone. That doesn't mean that you won't miss something when you miss a class. It just means that you won't be lost when you come in late to the six week course.

These classes are more workshop than class because each is only two hours. Each week I talk to my students about a particular subject important to becoming a good writer. We do exercises to practice this subject. We share our work and take time to discuss what is important about each piece.

No one need fear that he or she is too old or too young to take these classes. Basic writing technique is needed for anyone who writes and wants others to read his work.

I offer these classes at half price for students - high school or college.

We are having fun this summer.