Telling Your Story... Memoir Writing for Beginners

Personal historian and professional biographer Alan Bergman firmly believes that we all have an interesting life story to share, whether we realize it or not. Bergman, a local resident, is the author of 12 privately-published biographies.

His personal goal is to inspire people to write their memoirs and preserve their stories while they still can. “Our memoirs are treasures that deserve to be captured and shared with our children and grandchildren, as well as with other family members and friends. Too many of us regret not learning loved ones’ stories when we had the opportunity to do so,” Bergman says.

Not only does memoir writing create a historical accounting of our life and times, it can also serve as a catalyst for stimulating our mind muscle and improving cognitive brain functions. It can be tremendously cathartic to recall our past and commit it to writing.

Participants are encouraged to bring a photograph or an object which has an interesting story attached to it. There will be exercises to help recall events from our past or segments of our life, write about them as narrative, and then share these memories with other class members. These exercises will serve as an introduction to memoir writing. 

No writing experience is required. All participants should bring a pad or a notebook.