Treasured Tales - Learn To Write Your Memoir With This Eight-Week Series

If you’ve ever wanted to write the story of you, AARP Wyoming can help. Treasured Tales is an eight-week course designed to help you write a memoir. At the end of the class, you will have several stories, a notebook full of ideas, and a clear vision of how to proceed. This virtual series will kick off on April 3 and run each week through May 22.

Riverton’s Carolyn Lampman is your guide through this series. Each week covers a different aspect of your life by exploring various topics you might be inspired to write about. Multiple stories and essays are given as examples, which makes the class entertaining and informative.

To take part in as many of the events as you wish, click on each of the weekly course descriptions. AARP membership is not required and you will receive a Zoom link before the class. All classes take place from 10-11 a.m. Mountain Time.

• April 3 - An Introduction - We will explore what a memoir is and what it is not, set up a system for keeping track of ideas, and learn how to use graphic organizers. You will get your feet wet by writing about your first memory or telling your best story. Weekly Prompts and Course Materials Can Be Found In This Folder
• April 10 - Life Events - This week, you will look back on your major life events and identify those you may wish to include in your memoir. You will create a timeline of your life and explore the possibility of using speech-to-text software. Weekly Prompts and Course Materials Can Be Found In This Folder
• April 17 - People - We will revisit the people in your life and discuss different ways of writing about them. Weekly Prompts and Course Materials Can Be Found In This Folder
• April 24 - History - This week, we will look at your memories of important local, national, and international historical events, inventions that have come and gone, and how our way of life has changed during your lifetime. Weekly Prompts and Course Materials Can Be Found In This Folder
• May 1- Jobs and Hobbies - What have you spent your life doing? We begin with an exploration of your passions and how those may have changed over your lifetime, hobbies that grew out of your passions and collections you have/had. Then we move on to your work life and the different jobs you have held. Weekly Prompts and Course Materials Can Be Found In This Folder
• May 8 - Places - Place is the setting where your life happens. We begin by identifying the place you think of as home and explore how your life fits into a timeline of where you have lived. Then we look at your travels: where you’ve been and where you would like to go. Weekly Prompts and Course Materials Can Be Found In This Folder
• May 15 - Animals and Things - This week, we will look at the animals in your life: your pets, animals you’ve worked with, hunting and fishing, and all the animals that don’t fit the first three categories. Then we move on to your “Stuph and Junque” (not to be confused with Stuff and Junk). We will identify your greatest treasures, most prized possessions, and odd or interesting things that have come into your life. Weekly Prompts and Course Materials Can Be Found In This Folder
• May 22 - Favorites & Traditions and Where Do We Go From Here - This week is an overview of everything we missed, including a list of questions that may spark ideas for stories. We will discuss a plan for moving forward on your memoir and look at a variety of “publishing” options. Weekly Prompts and Course Materials Can Be Found In This Folder

AARP Wyoming is busy planning our Outreach Calendar. This year, we're focused on fighting fraud, supporting caregivers, and helping veterans navigate their benefits. Be sure to bookmark our events calendar and check back often!

Miss an event? Visit aarp.org/wyondemand to view the recording when available.For more information, contact Jennifer Baier at: jbaier@aarp.org.