Writing and publishing your memoir with Gavin Evans

Learn the secrets of memoir writing with author and lecturer Gavin Evans.

Everyone has a story - but how do you find that angle that will make people want to read it? This practical one-day course with Gavin Evans will help you develop your nascent memoir from idea to conception, providing you with the knowledge and tools to take it to the point of publication.

Memoir writing begins with the publishable idea, which with Gavin, you will be able to condense into one sentence - and then one page. You will then look at how to present yourself in your memoir through voice, tone and tense. Gavin will then take you through how to structure your content into 10 to 15 chapters, exploring the building blocks that form these chapters: angles, intros, outros, story arcs, dialogue, description, anecdotes and humour.

You will come away feeling confident in your abilities to continue writing and developing your memoir, armed with some of the “tricks” of publishable writing, as well as how to get your memoir on the shelves.

Course content

• Your memoir idea in one sentence

• Your memoir idea in 300 words

• How to present yourself with voice, tone and tense

• How to structure your story in 10 to 15 chapters

• The building blocks of a good chapter

• Tips on better writing

• Getting published

Tutor profile

Gavin Evans has written eight non-fiction books, including his memoir, Dancing Shoes is Dead, three sporting biographies, three books on popular science and a coffee table sports book. He lectures in the Media and Culture department at Birkbeck College, University of London, and supervises journalism master’s students at Cardiff University. He has also worked as a journalist for more than 30 years and has recently written for the Guardian, the New Internationalist, the International Business Times, the Daily Mirror and BBC History Magazine. He has delivered a TEDx talk on feminism and fatherhood, which is available here.

All Guardian Masterclasses are fully accessible - but please contact us if you have any queries or concerns.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website