Memoir Writing in Prison with Allison Langer and Exchange for Change

Summer schedule: Jan. 25- May 3, 2019

Student inmates will get an introduction to MEMOIR WRITING at the Dade Country Correctional Institute.

Week 1: Students learn basic tips for writing true stories. How to start a story. (Like starting an essay with WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE (grounding the reader). Click here for a full list of writing tips. The students will write from a short prompt + share their writing.

Week 2: Details (ask yourself LIKE WHAT?) Hand out story.

Week 3: OMIT needless words…one clear idea per sentence. Discuss story

Week 4: Story spine

Week 5: Situation vs Story. Hand out story.

Week 6: Why now? Discuss handout

Week 7: Scene

Week 8: Vulnerable narrator. Saying the thing you don’t want to say. Hand out story.

Week 9: What are the stakes? Why do we care? Discuss hand out

Week 10: What is the story about?

Week 11: How does the story end? What have you learned? How has the narrator                    changed? Talk about endings in pieces we’re read.

Week 12: RE-read! Go back and ask how tangents affect your story. (good + bad). Reference the three pieces.

Week 13: READ THE STORY OUT LOUD.