Advanced Memoir Writing Course

Price: NZ$ 1 995 / £ 895 / R 9 995

CREATIVE WRITING

Advanced Memoir Writing Course

Achieve Your Dream of Writing a Memoir

Fast-track your progress with one-to-one mentoring with a multi-award-winning author and much-loved tutor.

Do you have a manuscript to complete?

The first chapters of your memoir are written. What now?

Our Advanced Memoir Writing Course is designed to guide you through to the final word of your manuscript, under the tutelage of multi-award-winning novelist Alex Smith.

If you require the support and feedback of a mentor, then this course is designed to help you to complete your memoir within one year. There is no theoretical component to this course; it is structured entirely around the material that you are working on.

Please note that this course is only open to graduates of our Write a Memoir Course.

This Course Gives You...

Expert, Individual Feedback

Get prompt, honest, detailed feedback on every assignment from an award-winning writer. We focus on your unique writing strengths.

No Peer Reviews!

You will only be assessed by your tutor, a leader in their field. No more guessing and wondering how to write; you'll be guided line by line.

No Automated Marking

We use traditional methods of assessing work, as editors at publishing houses would. No generic feedback!

A Flexible Schedule

Work wherever and whenever you want. You can easily fit our courses around work and other commitments.

Relevant, Usable Content

Easy-to-digest course notes that capture a lifetime of writing experience, ready for you to apply to your own writing.

Ongoing Assessment

Your writing is assessed continuously as your course progresses.

Achieve Your Goal – Finish Your Memoir

Skip the self-doubt and procrastination with the help of the course structure and your mentor.

In the this course, you will learn how to:

complete a manuscript of approximately 50 000 words
hold your reader’s attention through mood, atmosphere and suspense
maintain logical flow throughout your story
edit your manuscript and eliminate plot holes
prepare a book proposal and present it to a publisher (optional)

The assignments consist of seven text instalments with feedback, four read-throughs of edits and two detailed manuscript assessments.

‘From the very first day, Alex walked beside me. Her feedback was respectful, technically helpful and insightful, at times it was as though she knew me better than I knew myself. Writing a memoir is emotional and daunting, Alex remained patient and positive even when my shoulders drooped.’

Annie Vorster, Advanced Memoir Course

Course Overview

Start your course at any time – applications open all year round.

COURSE FEE

Price includes GST/VAT

Other currencies will be converted at time of invoice

NUMBER OF ASSIGNMENTS

12 The assignments vary in length.

NUMBER OF MODULES

12 COURSE DURATION

24 Work at your own pace – up to a maximum of 24 months.

START DATE: ANYTIME

Working with an individual tutor means you can start the course at any time.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

Applicants must be graduates of the Write Your Memoir Course.
Computer skills, e-mail and Internet access required.

Our Graduate Students' Successes

We are proud of our graduates who have achieved success. Here are a few among dozens of our creative writing success stories.

Martin Steyn

Martin Steyn completed the Write a Novel Course. He had his first novel, 'Donkerspoor' ('Dark Traces'), published by Lapa in 2014. The book was an instant success and bestseller, and had to be re-printed. His second book, 'Skuldig' ('Guilty'), received even greater acclaim. Since then, he has written two more novels.

Gareth Ward

Gareth Ward's novel that he worked on during the course went on to win multiple awards. 'The Traitor and the Thief', a rip-roaring young adult steampunk adventure, won the 2016 Storylines Tessa Duder Award, the 2018 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Youth Novel, a 2018 Storylines Notable Book Award, and was a finalist in two categories at The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Gareth has this to say about studying with The Writers College: 'Hand on heart, there is no way I would have been published without Alex’s guidance.'

Trish Nicholson

Trish Nicholson, a former Short Story Course graduate, keeps notching up successes on the writing front. Trish won first prize in the Flash500 competition, with four stories shortlisted during that year. She won first prize in the 'shorter story' at the Winchester Writers' Conference in the UK, as well as runner-up in the ‘short story’ category. Two of her stories were commended in the South Island Writers' Association competition. A finalist in both the H.E. Bates Short Story Competition and the Neil Gunn Writing Competition, Trish is one of our most successful creative writing graduates yet.

Suzanne Maine

Suzanne Main completed the Basics of Creative Writing Course. Her children's novel, 'How I Alienated my Grandma', won the 2014 Storylines Tom Fitzgibbon Award.

Andy Evans

Andy Evans completed the Basics of Creative Writing Course and the Literary Short and Flash Fiction Course. He had his first short story, 'The Wooden Hills', published in 'Takahē' magazine. He placed third in the NZ Writers College Short Story Competition with his story 'Gravity'.

Taemumu Richardson

Taemumu Richardson was shortlisted in the Writers' Forum Short Story Competition. This is a big achievement as this competition draws a huge number of entries globally. She was also shortlisted for the Flash500 flash fiction competition, longlisted in the NZ Writers College Short Story Competition and received an honourable mention in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest. Tae had a story published in the literary magazine 'Takahē'.

Megan Frith

Megan Frith completed our Short Story Course and our Novel Writing Course. Her short story ‘Scars‘ came first in the 2014 Page & Blackmore Short Story Competition. She went on to place third in the 2015 Page & Blackmore Short Story Competition for her short story titled ‘Till Death‘. Recently, two of her stories were published in 'Horizons 2', an anthology compiled by the Top of the South branch of the NZ Society of Authors.

Alex Smith

Alex Smith is the award-winning author of five novels: Algeria’s Way, Drinking from the Dragon’s Well, Four Drunk Beauties, Devilskein & Dearlove (published by Random House/Umuzi) and Agency Blue (published by Tafelberg).

Her work has received widespread acclaim. Drinking from the Dragon’s Well was longlisted for the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award and Devilskein & Dearlove was nominated for the 2015 CILIP Carnegie Medal in the UK. Agency Blue won a Sanlam Youth Literature Award, while Four Drunk Beauties won the Nielsen Booksellers’ Choice Award.

Alex tutors the Novel Writing Course, the Advanced Novel Writing Course, the Advanced Short Story Writing Course and the Grammar Skills Course, sharing her knowledge and expertise with students of all skill levels.

Course Curriculum

Module 1

Text instalment 1: 5,000 words with feedback
Time to complete task: One month

Module 2

Text instalment 2: 5,000 words with feedback
Time to complete task: One month

Module 3

Text instalment 3: 5,000 words with feedback
Time to complete task: One month

Module 4

Text instalment 4: 5,000 words with feedback
Time to complete task: One month

Module 5

Text instalment 5: 5,000 words with feedback
Time to complete task: One month

Module 6

Text instalment 6: 5,000 words with feedback
Time to complete task: One month

Module 7

Text instalment 7: 5,000 words with feedback
Time to complete task: One month

Module 8

Edit the first quarter of your manuscript (approximately 13,000 words) and submit. Editing must be clearly tracked.
Time to complete task: One month

Module 9

Edit the second quarter of your manuscript (approximately 13,000 words) and submit. Editing must be clearly tracked.
Time to complete task: One month

Module 10

Edit the third quarter of your manuscript (approximately 13,000 words) and submit. Editing must be clearly tracked.
Time to complete task: One month

Module 11

Edit the final quarter of your manuscript and submit. Editing must be clearly tracked.
Time to complete task: One month

Module 12

Accept/reject changes on full manuscript; proofread; add final comments to self; submit final manuscript for assessment.

A note on word count

If your memoir is going to be over 50,000 words and you would like to submit additional text instalments for your tutor to critique, we will invoice you on a per-project basis.

What Our Students Say

From the very first day, Alex walked beside me. Her feedback was respectful, technically helpful and insightful, at times it was as though she knew me better than I knew myself. Writing a memoir is emotional and daunting, Alex remained patient and positive even when my shoulders drooped.

Alex was the ideal tutor. She did not delay in her marking of the assignments, and her feedback was insightful. The course pushed me, wonderfully, to learn, to improve my writing and to believe I can write.

I would describe the course as worthwhile and well worth the money! My novel is finished and ready to go to the publishers. I am so pleased with the way it turned out. My tutor was amazing. Her feedback – positive and negative – was the most useful part of this course. I would often find myself nodding and agreeing as I read her comments and wishing I’d been able to see it myself. Her positive comments kept me going, but it was from her red pen (the bits that needed to change) that I learnt the most. I was always surprised at how quickly Sonny got my assessments back to me, knowing how many words there were to read. I am really grateful that I had her as a tutor for both this course and the Write a Novel Course as without her guidance, my novel would look very different.

I now understand the art of storytelling and the discipline required to keep my audience involved. My tutor provided just the right amount of goading to get the job done, while I had the freedom to work at my own pace. She was a true professional, providing the ideal mix of authority and empathy.

This course was very enlightening for me. Alex has been great and extremely helpful! I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor. She was awesome to work with. The course met my objectives more than I had anticipated. It was a pleasure to be a student with the The Writers’ College, and to take part in an experience that has set the foundation to the rest of my writing journey.

The course material was brilliant! I found everything helpful and easily applicable to my own writing. I was extremely happy with the entire course. Alex is a wonderful lecturer! Her use of positive criticism was amazing. It helped me approach my editing in a different way. The support she gave me was priceless, it got me through the times when I thought the mountain of writing was too high to climb. I have so many things to say about her, but what I will say is: Thank you Alex! The course objective was a couple of chapters and twenty five thousand words. Three and a half months in, I had hit the mark already. Alex hinted that it would be a shame if I didn’t finish my entire first draft of my manuscript before the end of the course. It was a tall order, but before the end I sat with a manuscript of hundred and seventeen thousand words. She helped me achieve above and beyond what I thought I was capable of. I’m happy to say that whatever made me stumble onto your college changed my life, and turned a small hope and dream into a reality.

Lifetime Course Access

Benefit from free lifetime access to future course updates and access to our writing resources.

Join a Community of Writers

You will have access to our friendly Facebook community, daily writing tips and writing inspiration.

500+ Bonus Articles on Our Blog

A superb, constantly updated resource with articles on writing and interviews with writers.

Work at Your Own Pace

Our courses work around you. You can pace your course around your busy life.

Work Opportunities

Top students are invited to join our writers and editors for hire service.

Be the First to Know About Writing Competitions

We'll help you keep up to date with the latest competition announcements

Risk-Free 100% Money-Back Guarantee

We are so confident that you will love your course that if you’re not 100% satisfied with the quality of our training, simply ask for a refund within 30 days.

Complete the Application Form to Enrol on the Advanced Memoir Course

You will receive an approval email and invoice within one working day.

First Name

Last Name

Confirm Email

Date of Birth (Optional)

Gender (Optional)

Female Male Other

Country of Residence

What are your reasons for signing up for this course?

An alternative email address if you have one

Questions? We've Got Answers

How does the course work?

The course consists of 12 modules. For each module, you will email an assignment with a specific word count to your tutor for assessment. Once feedback has been received, the task will be considered complete.

Bear in mind that you will be systematically writing, editing and proofreading your own novel during this course. By the end of the course, you will have completed a manuscript of between 55,000 and 70,000 words. Your tutor will be available for text critiques and support.

Is it interactive? Can I ask my tutor questions?

Absolutely. You have direct communication with your tutor for the duration of the course. The more questions you ask, the more you will get out of the course.

For how long will I get access to the course?

You will get lifetime access to the course. You will also benefit from future updates and improvements to the course.

Will anyone else see my work?

For the majority of our courses, only your tutor will see your work. It will remain completely private unless you get it published. The journalism courses might see your work published in the public domain, but you do have the final say as to whether or not this happens.

What are the conditions of certification?

You will receive a Writers College Certificate upon successful completion of the course, provided you meet the following conditions:

You must have completed all writing tasks.
A minimum average of 50% must be achieved.
The course must be completed within 24 months of registration.

What are the admission requirements?

You must be a graduate of the Write a Memoir Course.
Computer skills as well as email and Internet access are required.

When can I start a course?

Because you will work with an individual tutor, you can start your course as soon as your application has been approved. There are no specific start dates as would be the case with a traditional college.

An application is usually approved within one working day. Once we receive proof of payment, your can start your course.

You could be starting your course today!

What is the minimum estimated time commitment?

Everyone writes at a different pace. However, for each 1,000 words of your novel, we give a conservative estimate of about an hour of writing and at least the same amount of time for revising. For each 5,000 words of your novel, allocate a minimum of ten hours.

Time should also be set aside for final revisions at the end of the course. Expect to work on your novel for a minimum of 120 hours in total or around ten hours per month over 12 months.

When will I get access to the course?

Once your application has been approved, you will receive notification of approval and an invoice via email. As soon as we receive proof of payment, your first module as well as your tutor’s email address and your login details will be sent to you. Your tutor will also be in touch to welcome you.

Who owns the rights to the work I produce?

Any work created on our courses with is owned by you. We will never make a claim to anything you produce. We follow the rule that copyright subsists with the creator (you).

‘The hard work was worth it. I learned a lot and it was a great experience for me on a personal level. My tutor was very supportive and helpful. Studying through The Writers College was once again an awesome experience.’