How It Works
General Description
The Memoir Medley takes a group of eight to ten writers on a writing journey.
I post a new prompt to a private Memoir Medley blog by 7:00 pm every Sunday. You respond to the prompt and send me your text (of up to 1000 words) by 7:00 pm the following Sunday. Within 24 hours I post all of the texts to our private blog where everyone in the group can read them. The texts are easily sortable by prompt and author.
When I post the texts I also initiate a conversation about the week’s writing. This is an invitation to respond to the writing process and to one another’s writing. The conversation is not a space for critique, but for sharing what touches or inspires us about the texts or our own experience of writing about the prompt.
The Prompts
One specific prompt or set of prompts is offered each week. I ask that you write your text in response to the prompts, although you have the freedom to interpret them in a way that is meaningful to you. The prompts are varied. Some are structural – a list, a letter, an essay that begins and/or ends with certain words, three short paragraphs or a particular form. Some are subject or theme based. There is no minimum word count, and a maximum of 1000 words. The intention is that you submit lightly edited first drafts.
The Writing
When you sign up for a Memoir Medley you allow yourself to experience the rhythm of weekly writing. You take intentional time to write, receive the weekly prompt, be fully available for whatever idea or response comes up for you, and then set your pen to paper (hands to keyboard) and go, to discover what happens next. It isn’t about perfect writing as much as the commitment to the weekly practice and the synergy of the group writing experience.