Online Memoir Generator
12 weeks to a complete draft
March 6 - May 29, 2025
This is the year you finish your book.
It's never been more important for our voices to be heard, our stories told. If you're ready for the world to hear yours, enroll in VONA's first ever memoir generator today.
The 411
In this twelve-week master program for writers at every stage of their memoir manuscript — from the first couple of chapters to the finished draft — we will dissect the craft and creation of memoir with the hopes of better understanding how to write our own.
This class is limited to six writers to ensure that every student gets focused, rigorous and meaningful attention.
Participants will foster new work, generate ideas, and refine existing material. In this course, you will examine your work and those of your peers to hone your craft and bolster your confidence as a writer. We will use our collective knowledge to progress our work throughout the course. We will pay attention to narrative voice, diction, structure, dialogue, language, imagery, and style—all of which I hope will expand your toolkit as a writer for this workshop and beyond as you continue into the revision of your manuscripts.
Additionally, though critique is very much a presence in this workshop, we will also focus on critique that can move a manuscript forward and celebrate successes because the goal is to keep ourselves writing!
Writers will graduate with a first complete draft of a memoir (or most of one) and the necessary tools to revise it into its most potent form. The last live class meeting will include a virtual meet and greet with a literary agent.
The Instructor
This course will be led by Christine Hyung-Oak Lee. A celebrated VONA alum and past VONA faculty, Christine is a writer and the author of a memoir published by Ecco / HarperCollins, Tell Me Everything You Don’t Remember, which was featured in Self Magazine, Time, The New York Times, and NPR’s Weekend Edition with Scott Simon. Her short stories and essays have appeared in ZYZZYVA, BuzzFeed, Guernica, and The New York Times. Christine's pronouns are they/she. They have run successful memoir generator workshops with prior organizations before and find this format particularly nourishing, impactful, and necessary.
The Applicant
This program is for anyone committed to finishing a draft of a creative nonfiction book manuscript.
You will attend every weekly workshop on Thursday evenings from 5:00pm-7:30pm PT (no class on March 27, 2025 due to AWP). You should expect to spend several hours a week working on your project and reading your peers’ writing to provide meaningful feedback and encouragement to propel writing forward.
The Schedule
This intensive program will run from March 6 through May 29, 2025, with the class meeting on Zoom every Thursday from 5 - 7:30 pm PT. Accepted writers must commit to the full 12 weeks and meet all assigned deadlines.
The Tuition
The cost for this experience is $4,000. A $2,000 deposit is due before the beginning of the program, and the remaining balance may be paid in monthly payments through Klarna, Afterpay or Paypal.
The enrollment cap of six students participating in this program ensures close guidance, meaningful attention, and more time to focus on your work.
Come committed to creativity and your craft. Invest in yourself and complete your memoir this Spring with VONA.