Writing The Story Of Your Life

A free workshop on Writing the Story of Your Life will be held in the Meeting Room of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library on Saturday, March 29, from 9 am to noon. The workshop will be led by Liz Arneth and Andrea Zimmerman, and anyone interested in the topic is welcome to attend although space will be limited.

The emphasis of the workshop will be on where and how to begin writing.

The workshop leaders will offer practical advice and examples; they will also guide participants in beginning to organize their personal experiences in preparation for writing their stories. Those who attend will also have the opportunity to write at least one short piece during the program. Handouts will include specific suggestions for writing topics, questions to jog the memory, and a bibliography of recently published guides to writing life stories.

 Liz Arneth taught writing at Ridgefield High School for many years as an English teacher. She said she truly enjoyed sitting with students during writing conferences and talking with them about their papers. Facilitating their personal essays was a way to connect with them as well as teach them how to organize their ideas in an interesting and cohesive way. They never failed to amaze her with their talents.

 Two years ago, Ms Arneth and Ginger Humeston founded a poetry writing group at the library that still meets once a week. The group has self-published a collection of its poems. Liz Arneth also works with Janice Bernard at Head O’ Meadow School helping her second grade students with reading and writing. The children recently finished creating their first mysteries and are presently beginning a project on the rain forest and endangered species. Whether working with children, adolescents or adults, the process of writing continues to be an integral part of Ms Arneth’s life and she is looking forward to running this memoir writing workshop with Andrea Zimmermann because it will be a voyage of self-discovery.

Andrea Zimmerman has taught The Basics of Writing and Publicity at Naugatuck Valley Community Technical College. For four years, she facilitated and participated in a memoir writing group at the C.H. Booth Library. She was one of the interviewers for and editors of Newtown Remembered: An Oral History of the 20th Century, and continues with interviews for a second volume. Ms Zimmermann has spoken about memoir writing at two meetings of the Connecticut Authors. She is currently writing the biography of a Newtown farmer. Beyond anything else in the world, Andrea Zimmermann loves to write and share her enthusiasm for the craft with others.

For more information or register for the program, contact the library at 426-4533.