Telling Your Story

With the maple leaves at The Clearing in Door County still in prime bright yellow and brilliant red.   Cool invigorating early November temperature surrounding the place.  And yes, with the occasional spit of rain, forty of my writing students gathered to learn about stories and how to write them based on personal memories and experiences. 

How to craft a story so people keep reading.   How to write about joy, and loss, how to use humor and appreciate the power of it.  How to write about the weird uncle and a bullying aunt.  How to write about the place where people grew up.  How to write about a person who made a difference in their lives.

            How to write about the ordinary and make it extraordinary. How to shape a memory into a story.  How to release the creativity that is inside each of us.  And above all, how to have fun while doing it.

People came from Iowa and Illinois, from Wisconsin and Michigan.  High school age and octogenarians and all ages in between.  Husbands and wives.  Brothers and sisters.  People who had been in my classes before, and many who were new and were at The Clearing for the first time.   Accomplished writers and those who were just beginning—trying to figure out where to start. 

All writing their stories.  Lots of laughter.  Some sadness.  A reflection of life itself with its peaks and valleys.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Never forget the power of the story.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

November 6, 3:30 UW PLATO group, Oakwood West, (Mineral Point Road), Madison.  Quiet Season.

November 7, 7:00 p.m. Baraboo Public Library. Ringlingville U.S.A.

November 9, 9:30 a.m.: Sheboygan County Research Center, Plymouth, Limping Through Life.

November 10: 3:30 p.m. Books and Company bookstore, Oconomowoc, The Quiet Season.

November 13: Wisconsin Public TV Documentary Screening, “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps” and book signing. Wild Rose High School Auditorium, 6:15 p.m. Free and open to the public. (In cooperation with the Patterson Memorial Library, Wild Rose.)

November 17: Lebanon Historical Society.  Fire Hall Lebanon, 7:00 p.m.  Letters from Hillside Farm and Limping Through Life.

November 21: Wisconsin Historical Society Museum (On the Square). 6:30 p.m. The Quiet Season.

December 4, 7:00 p.m. Premier showing of “A Farm Winter with Jerry Apps.”  All Wisconsin public TV stations.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “A FARM STORY WITH JERRY APPS” DVD

DVD Jerry Apps: A Farm Story List $16.95 The Patterson’s price only $15.00 ($20.00 shipped)
Special Bundle Offer exclusively by the Patterson:
Tamarack River Ghost & Jerry Apps: A Farm Story – List $43.90
The Patterson’s Price Only $35.00 ($43.00 shipped)

Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division St. PO Box 305
Wild Rose, WI 54984

(All items are sold by the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library. They will accept checks or cash, they’re sorry but they don’t have any way to accept credit or debit cards, checks should be made out to the Friends of Patterson Memorial Library.