by Monica Wooton

Last Saturday afternoon students and MHS instructors Joely Johnson Mork, Dale Forbus Hogle, and Monica Wooton explored their childhoods and learned to write down their memories. The workshop was filled with concrete tips to encourage students and get them started, gentle prompts, and actual time to write and revise work.

As always, the stories were a mix of poignant and fun. One student shared his high school date and driving his father’s business truck, which caught on fire. He revealed that this was not his idea of a good first impression. He also told of his anxiousness to get his first car and how that transpired. Another writer recalled the depression years of his youth and all the social programs he was forced to participate in to get food staples and human services. He wrote of his childhood memories of standing in lines and getting handouts, and he related those experiences to his present political views.

Dale Forbus Hogle shared her personal experience of writing a family memoir about her grandmother Birdie, with strategies and examples of her process and product. The students participated in small groups sharing their writing and were taught good critique skills, which they got to practice in these small groups. Publication tips and strategies to keep writing were included in the class.

Class feedback was very positive:

“Wish it was every week. The writing exercises were wonderful.”

“I liked breaking into the smaller groups, it made me more comfortable and more likely to open up”

“We had a great student-to-teacher ratio. It is nice to have multiple teachers. You gave us concrete examples of published work. I signed up for the writing time, which is what we got.”

“ I appreciated the professionalism. The writing prompts really appealed to me.’

“It was rewarding to have a captive audience and a focused group. Smaller is more comfortable. I would like to see this class more often. It’s hard to find time to write, even though I am retired.”

“I liked the ability to share and getting information from other readers, learning about their styles and ways of doing things.”

The next workshop will be held in the fall. Details will be posted here and in our fall Newsletter. To get on our newsletter list contact Monica Wooton by visiting the Contact Us page.