Executive Summary
This is a unique course in which you will learn how to write a successful and memorable medical memoir from Ross A. Pennie, MD; a physician who has brought his medical experiences to life through published memoirs. It is an ideal preconference for physicians who have a story to tell and is specifically designed for physicians interested in writing a medical memoir.
Faculty
Ross A. Pennie, MD
, an alumnus of SEAK's Fiction Writing for Physicians Workshop, is an infectious diseases specialist in southern Ontario, Canada where he is a professor at McMaster University. His award winning doctor's memoir of Papua New Guinea, The Unforgiving Tides, is still delighting readers with its grit and charm. His first medical thriller, Tainted, is coming out in April 2009 and will be available online at Amazon and other outlets. "Tainted is fascinating and fast-paced, a medical thriller with the high-stakes tension of a frightening epidemic. Ross Pennie knows how to weave real science with crackling suspense." - Tess Gerristen, New York Times bestselling author of The Keepsake.
Tuition
The $495.00 tuition includes a continental breakfast, breaks, lunch with faculty, a detailed manual which can be retained as a bookshelf reference, and a dynamic learning experience.
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Schedule
Friday, October 23, 2009
7:30-8:30Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30-9:30Personal Success Stories
Ross A. Pennie, M.D. will explain how they turned his experiences, as a medical volunteer in Papua New Guinea, into a memorable and successful medical memoir.
9:30-9:45Memoir vs. Autobiography: What is the Difference?
Faculty will discuss the similarities and differences between an autobiography and a memoir. The faculty will explain the need for fine writing, accurate detail, entertainment for wide readership, and humor which are the hallmarks of successful commercial memoirs.
9:45-10:30Journaling: The Key to a Successful Memoir
Ross will explain the importance of keeping a journal and how a journal can be used in helping you create your medical memoir.
10:30-10:45BREAK & NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY
10:45-11:15Resurrecting Your Memories
Ross will discuss the techniques he used to resurrect and recapture their "memories" including: reading diaries, looking at picture albums, letters, newspaper clippings, retrieving letters, reminiscing with friends and family, and making a date line of events. His research techniques will be explored.
11:15-12:00Finding Your Voice
Ross will explain and demonstrate through the use of his memoir how to develop your own unique "voice" to make your memoir memorable, entertaining and commercial.
12:00-1:00LUNCH PROVIDED WITH FACULTY
1:00-2:00Increasing Readability: Just Because it is True Doesn't Make it Interesting
Ross will discuss how to increase the readability and commercial viability of your memoir by increasing the resonance for your readers and their engagement with your story. Techniques such as show much tell little, dribbling dry facts, including dialogue, highlighting the quirkiness of your characters and much more will be covered.
2:00-2:15Transitions: How to Make Them Feel Natural
Faculty will discuss how to make your transitions easy, natural and how to use them to help drive your story.
2:15-2:30Respecting Privacy: What Should You Not Say?
Ross will explain how to deal with the issues of privacy, propriety, and accuracy.
2:30-2:45BREAK & NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY
2:45-3:30Driving Your Narrative: How to Develop a Sense of Forward Progression
Faculty will discuss how to develop a framework for your stories and maintain a forward progression throughout your medical memoir.
3:30-4:15Getting Your Medical Memoir Published
Ross will discuss getting help, finding an agent and publisher and making the breakthrough with your medical memoir.
4:15-4:30Concluding Roundtable Discussion
Ross will open the floor to any additional questions.