On Friday, November 3, at 10 am ET, Patrick and I will begin testing some new programs with the help of a few intrepid volunteers. There will be 10 of us in this Zoom workshop, from Vermont, Massachusetts, Denmark, and France. Introductions are always a bit awkward. How do you present yourself in 100 words or less?
That's the challenge of this exercise, which was inspired by an artist friend whose show just opened in Massachusetts. "My kitchen gadget characters are up at Buckies Biscotti in Dennisport," he wrote. "I was going to include this bio: 'While working to be a great artist, Cleveland has moonlighted as a NYC taxi driver, public school teacher, gallery owner, custodian, magazine photo editor, international ships captain, has been a member of AA for the past 18 years, a member of AAA off n on since he began driving legally and a retiree,' but then I decided not to."
Autobiography is tough. Whether it's 200 pages or 200 words, it's all about selection. What do you put in and what do you leave out?
For this exercise, you can put in anything you want. You can be quirky as hell. The only requirement is honesty. You might include, for example:
Your proudest accomplishment before the age of 7.
Something you couldn't possibly live without.
Your teenage crush.
Something most people don't know about you, or that they tend to get wrong.
A musical instrument.
A dog.
An influential teacher.
The road not taken.
A competition that you did or didn't win.
To find out more about the KWS Pilot Project workshop that begins on November 3, send an email to sara@korongobooks.com.
I used 4 of the writing prompts suggested under "Write a Bio That You Would Never Send" and I still want to do more of them. Like "A Teenage Crush" being one of THE best relationships I have ever had...and he never even really knew.