Back to Home > Courses and Seminars > 12-Week Memoirist

12-Week Memoirist

Start and prepare to sell your memoir in 3 months.

Course is closed.

DURATION/TIME
12 weeks
Mondays
March 13 - June 5
7-10 pm

LEVEL
Intermediate/advanced 

LOCATION
New York (Soho)

PRICE
$610 ($575 for )
more info

Course Details

So, you're ready to sell the story of your life and turn your memories into memoir, but you're not quite sure where to go from here. You may have written bits and pieces already. You probably have a fairly clear idea of what sort of memoir you want to write.   

This class is geared toward the writer who is ready to write a memoir but needs to learn how to tell it - and sell it. Through weekly assignments and lectures, you'll learn how to turn your idea into a book deal and produce up to 50 pages of polished text and an outline for the rest of the book. You will also learn about craft, style, and the development of your unique voice.

In this class, you can expect to learn:
  • To find your authentic voice and unlock memories
  • What the theme of your story is
  • The most effective structure for your story
  • Why (and how) you can sell a memoir before you have finished writing it
  • What happens once you've sold your memoir
By the end of class, you can expect to have:
An outline, 50 pages of a memoir, and the knowledge you need to approach literary agents and publishing houses.

Admission Requirements:
Please submit a letter of interest (including a brief work history) and a writing sample (2,000 words or less).

Instructor Bio

Precious Williams's Courses

No courses available at this time.

Precious Williams
London-born New Yorker Precious Williams has written about Ivy League Hookers for the New York Post, women addicted to one-night stands for Cosmo and life for women inside the Nation of Islam for the London Times. She is also a contributing editor at Elle (UK), for whom she interviews celebrities -- most recently Jenna Jameson and Portia di Rossi. Precious's profiles, personal essays and investigative pieces have been published in dozens of magazines and newspapers, including The Times, New York, Glamour, Marie Claire, The Daily Telegraph and Details. Her essay "Two Dollars A Word", detailing an encounter with a celebrity interviewee, appears in the recent Simon & Schuster anthology, Sex & Sensibility.

View Precious's work samples in her Freelance Marketplace profile.

Precious studied English lit at Oxford and Journalism at the London College of Printing. Her first two books will be published in 2007. Both books -- a memoir and an instructional guide to writing personal essays -- were sold on proposal.

Testimonials


Taking Precious Williams' workshop on Writing about Sex and Relationships was wonderful. She covered everything from first person essays, to service pieces, to interviews. She's intelligent and extremely perceptive and writes from the heart. This completely translates into how she deals with students and in her handling of the course. The class was thought-provoking as well as fun. -- Beth Bernstein, former student

"I signed up for How to Become a Celebrity Interviewer to meet Precious Williams. I have long read and loved her articles in UK Elle, so it was no surprise how much I enjoyed her class. Precious wasn't afraid to let us know some of the mistakes she'd made and learned from in the past, which made her class all the more encouraging. I'm now signed up as a stringer and have some very exciting interviews with singers and actors already lined up! Meeting Precious definitely gave me both the inspiration and the confidence to try out this new world of celebrity interviews." -- Katrina Lawrence, beauty & lifestyle writer

"(Precious Williams) is a perfect role model for novice writers like myself. She is witty, engaging, and lively. She made me want to hear everything she said because she had so much to offer. I really came away with a better understanding of how to write for magazines as a whole and magazines I preferred. She clearly navigated the publishing world for the class each time, and made it sound possible to be a writer. Precious gave every student hope and showed us just how opportunity knocks for everyone. I have already sent out my first pitch letter, and have a second one ready." -- Jackie Matragrano, former student

"Precious Williams is a wonderful mentor. I spent the past two years writing a chick lit novel set in Manhattan, and her classes on Writing About Dating & Relationships and Celebrity Interviewing helped me get back to writing shorter pieces -- and get them published! Her tips helped me land a weekly newspaper column writing profiles of noteworthy people in New England. I've also had success with articles on The New York Times best-selling authors and domestic diva Martha Stewart. The great thing about her classes is that while you're learning, she makes you laugh." -- Noelle Ashley, author & columnist

AvantGuild* Discounts on mediabistro.com courses are just one of the wonderful benefits of being in AvantGuild, our premium membership program. For just $59 a year, you'll receive instant access to our How to Pitch articles and other premium articles, transcripts from selected seminars and panels, and discounts on virtually everything we do (including eClasses and the Freelance Marketplace)! Click here to join now.