Finding the Heart of Your Memoir,

Prescott Valley Public Library will be hosting a workshop on Finding the Heart of Your Memoir on Monday, May 18, 2026, from 12-2PM. Join us for this free writing workshop, where you'll explore two powerful tools to help you find the heart of your memoir.

A memoir is a single lens on an aspect of life not an entire biography. Memoirists must learn to distill their work. They must understand the relevance of the events they choose to dramatize to the internal growth trajectory of the narrator. In other words, they must learn to ask, “who cares?” ruthlessly about key events in their lives. Not a task for the faint of heart! One of the most challenging things for memoirists to do is find the singular story, out of a lifetime of stories, they’re telling in their memoir.

In this workshop, we’ll look at two powerful tools to help you find the heart of your memoir, and if you aren’t sure yet what your story is, the tools can help you understand what’s missing! We will look at the concept of a misbelief and learn how tracking a character’s misbelief leads us to the memoir’s theme and point. Whether you’re just starting your memoir or already have several drafts, these exercises will strengthen your understanding of your work.

Please bring writing materials and be prepared to write!

Laraine Herring is a retired professor of creative writing and psychology. Her memoir, A Constellation of Ghosts: A Speculative Memoir with Ravens, was released from Regal House in 2021. She’s also the author of a trilogy of writing books, including Writing Begins with the Breath, the editor of Becoming Real: Women Reclaim the Power of the Imagined through Speculative Nonfiction, and the author and illustrator for The Grief Forest: a book about what we don’t talk about, and The Grief Carnival: a book about loving what is leaving. She’s currently working on another memoir called Solving for X: A Speculative Memoir of Mothers. laraineherring.com

Pre-registration is required.

Monday, May 18, 2026

12 PM- 2:00 PM

PC Lab, Second Floor

More info? 928.759.3040