One of the purposes of Capturing Memories is to inspire people to write their stories. The place where I find the most inspiration is in Memoir Writing groups. Our local Senior Center has had a writing group for more than twelve years. Periodically, they present public readings of their best work. I attended one of those readings and immediately wanted to join them. I called the Senior Center and asked if I had to be a senior citizen to take part (I was only 40 at the time!). I was assured that I could join.

I was a part of that group for two years. It met every week on Monday mornings. I wrote lots of stories and even published a book of stories about my father. I wanted to keep attending, but I had two young children and found it difficult to find child care for them on Monday mornings. So, I had to stop attending the group. Shortly afterward, my writing decreased. I wasn't getting my weekly inspirational fix. I missed the group terribly. Joyce Delbridge, our group leader, encouraged me to start my own group. "Who me?" I could never "lead" a writing group. After all, I had only been an average writer in school. Yes, after twenty years, the stigma of all those compositions returned to me, "bleeding" with red ink, was still there. My friends and family told me I was a good writer, but I didn't really believe them. My composition grades twenty years ago were a strong reminder that I wasn't.

However, I wanted to be part of a writing group. If it could be held in the evenings, I could attend. Over the course of a year, I occasionally talked to other people who would be interested. I started working on my family history at the local Mormon church. I met more people who were potential family history writers. Finally I decided to take the plunge. I would start a group that met in the evenings so working people could attend. By now, I had done enough reading on the subject to realize that this would not be a class in writing compositions. Our objective would be to get our family stories down on paper—nothing more.

Because the group at the Senior Center was so successful, I was determined to follow the format that Joyce had used. Here's what worked for them for over ten years:

• No cost—except the nominal membership at the Senior Center ($8.00/year) and cost of copying handouts.
• No guilt. Don't worry if you can't attend every meeting or write something every week.
• No writing "assignments." Write what you are inspired to write. Share your stories with the group only if you wish to.
• Meet once a week, except during holidays and the summer.
• Most of the meeting time is spent listening to readings and commenting on them—not critiquing them. (Keep the meetings positive.) We don't worry about grammar or sentence structure. Our comments are mostly along the lines of "I liked the part about…" or "Could you tell us more about…" The closest we come to negative comments was "I didn't understand who was talking when…" or "Can you explain what happened there at the beginning…?" or something along those lines.
• Spend 15 to 20 minutes discussing a specific topic, such as where to get inspiration, how to organize stories, how to write dialogue, etc.

Once I was convinced that there was a need in the community for a second writing group, I put together a list of topics that I would feel comfortable presenting to the group. I chose ideas that I had used to stimulate my own writing. Remember, I only had to lead a discussion for 10-15 minutes on each one. Other people join the discussion, so I rarely talk for ten minutes. It is not so much a lesson as it is a discussion of technique. I got my ideas from reading books on memoir writing, my genealogical research, LifeStory Magazine, the Senior Center memoir writing group, and Charley Kempthorne's book, For All Time. (In fact, Charley's book is almost my "text" book, and I recommend it to the group members.) Joyce Delbridge very generously made suggestions and allowed me to use her ideas and handouts.

Since I did not want to charge for the "workshops" (as I have come to call them), I needed to find a meeting place that would not charge for its use. I thought this would be the hardest part, but it wasn't. I happened to mention that I needed a meeting place to one of the assistants at the Family History Center where I do my genealogical research. (These centers are located in Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) churches throughout the world.) She suggested that we meet at her church. She even arranged the room for me through the church organization. As it turned out, one of the criteria for using the church's facility was that I couldn't charge for the meetings! (I can, however, be reimbursed for copying costs of handouts.) It was just what I needed. Besides, it was a perfect location since genealogical research and family history writing go hand in hand.

I created a poster to put up around town and wrote some short newspaper announcements. Before I knew it, I was printing out handouts for my first meeting.

Since I did not require registration, I had no idea of how many people would be at the first meeting. The group turned out to have eleven members. A great beginning!

Here are the guidelines I set up. They worked well for the Senior Center group, so I just duplicated them:

• Meetings last two hours—exactly. We always end on time.
• Here is how we spend our time:
  • 10 minutes getting settled
  • About 30 minutes sharing stories and commenting on them
  • 10 minute break (sometimes)
  • 10 to 15 minutes discussing the evening's topic
  • The remainder of the time sharing more readings.
• Anyone who wants to read draws a number from a bowl. This determines the order in which we read.

After only three meetings I felt that our group was a great success! People shared delightful stories about themselves and their ancestors. Some were humorous, some were serious, some were heart-rending, but all the stories were listened to with rapt attention. Comments from group members were helpful and encouraging. It was obvious that everyone was enjoying the workshops. I sure was!

The amount of effort I expended in starting the workshops was really negligible when I consider how much inspiration I am getting from the group. My family history writing had been waning during the year I had not been part of a writing group. Now I was inspired to write again. It is a great joy to listen to the stories others have to share, and I continue to get ideas from my fellow writers.

If you are not already part of a writing group, I hope I have encouraged you to start one. My book, Facilitating a Lifewriting Group is Easy, will help you with:

• Writing group guidelines
• Publicity (including sample press releases and posters)
• Detailed exercises for your first six meetings
• Over 65 quick and easy lifewriting ideas
• 38 ready-to-use handouts