Kick Your Graphic Memoir Into Gear

Are you writing your graphic memoir?

Do you need feedback, guidance, and accountability?

Welcome!

to our graphic memoir intensive working group!

If you are working on autobiographical work, a graphic memoir, whether large or small, this is the place to be.

I've taught hundred of students, and my own memoir debuted at #1 on the NY Times Bestseller List.

I'm here to help you find your material, find your voice, with an audience of like-minded readers and creators. 

The Graphic Memoir Working Group started in Nov 2017 and has been AMAZING...

And there's plenty of room for you. 

Working Along is Hard!

Working without guidance is hard.  
Working without prompts, exercises and discipline is hard...


I've been there a million times!

But I also know how to get out of it (it's actually fun...)

Let our Graphic Memoir Intensive Working Group get you through.

In the Graphic Memoir Intensive, I'll share with you my favorite inspirations, the draft pitch and proposal I sent for my memoir, and the strategies I use to keep the story alive.

And you'll work with great people working through the same problems you're wrestling with.

In the group, you'll hear amazing stories, tell your own, work on storytelling, get lots of great group feedback as well as lots of input from me, along with guided exercises and examples and wisdom.


Jump in now!

You can learn to make your graphic memoir soar.

Jump in anytime, subscribe for one month or 20, and learn from a master teacher and a cohort of like-minded writer/artists.

Come introduce yourself...

Come into the group (not on Facebook, but our own Mighty Network), introduce yourself, and you'll get instant access to the abundance of materials below and wisdom from me and the rest of the past and present group.

A Masterclass of Material

Every week is a little different. Potential topics and exercises are all bundled in the curriculum below, and it's always growing! We'll pull from these materials as needed during class time, but you're always welcome to dive in and look around.

After an in-depth intro week, we’ll build our project piece by piece, by looking at:
  • the fear of getting started
  • personal material gathering
  • general structure
  • different tones of voice
  • visual metaphor
  • getting around sticky personal situations
  • cleaning up your room!
  • and the in-depth ways we can be compelling on the page
  • and much much much more (I'm always surprised myself!)

I’ll be listening to your feedback and will provide different exercises and discussions depending on what themes or issues surface.

Past students of mine know that I’m quick to tailor exercises and discussions according to the needs of the group or even individuals.

It may be that some people need guided exercises and others want discussions and feedback. Both are always accommodated.

This group has been dynamic, rich, supportive and super-interesting. 

Want to see what real people are like? Want to see real people telling their stories? Want to tell your own? 

Want to make your graphic memoir come alive?

This group will focus and inspire you. Let's make your story happen!

Want a sample?

Click Here  to download my FREE 8-page preview, Graphic Memoir:  Change Your Life

I wrote the book on Graphic Memoir

My book, The Art of the Graphic Memoir was years in the making, and began here at SAW. In this group, we go beyond, WAAAYYY beyond the book, into powerful, deep execises and conversations about how to turn life into art (and vice versa.)
I wrote the book on Graphic Memoir

What is Included

  • 18 Videos

  • 16 Texts

  • 67 PDFs

  • 1 Audio

  • 1 Download

  • 2 Presentations

  • 50 Hours

Course curriculum

Like a lot of my classes, I'm offering it sliding scale. Paying what you can afford helps others pay what they can afford, thanks!

Want to pay something other than the below? Contact me at tom@sequentialartistsworkshop.org

Pricing options

What our students have said

“Tom brings everything I could have wanted to his role as mentor and impresario in the SAW graphic memoir group—enthusiasm, a sharp and critical eye, an intuitive grasp of visual and linear storytelling, and perhaps the world’s most exhaustive and affectionate knowledge of comics history. He loves what he does, and he exudes a genuine desire to help his students become the best comics artists possible.”

Student

Elizabeth Kadetsky

“I loved Tom Hart's course and being able to share with other members and ask for & give feedback about the work on a daily basis. Everyone is super willing to share and is generous with their time and ideas and helps to move your story along or call out things that may not work, or need to be clarified. Tom gives great insight as well, and he gives a plethora of great materials from pdf of comics and readings of everything form starting to visual style and storytelling through comics. Highly recommended!”

Student

Lynsey Erin Hirth

“This course helped me to clarify my concept for my graphic memoir, to get valuable feedback from Tom and classmates about my plan, and to workshop various ideas through the excellent exercises Tom provided. There was TONNES of material provided, more than I could actually sift through, but what I looked at was so helpful in so many ways. I loved the camaraderie and creative exchange in our group. I now feel more confident and knowledgeable about the graphic memoir genre, drawing the face and body, page composition, and voice, and ready to really start my memoir in earnest. Great to know also that the new course will allow me to come back in to get support when I need it. Thanks Tom!”

Student

Madeline Walker

“My name is Emma and I’m a proud member of Tom’s Graphic Memoir Group. I can’t recommend this book highly enough! Ive been in the group working on my memoir for over a year now and i have loved every moment. Tom’s a unique, supportive and inspiring teacher it’s one of the main reasons I’ve kept coming back time and time again. It’s very rare to be in an online community and last this long. Get yourself a copy or better still join us. There are some exceptional people who i gladly call my friends.”

Student

Emma Cook

The Graphic Memoir Intensive Course

Ready to make your graphic memoir come alive?

Buy Now

F.A.Q.

So there are two URLs for this course?

Yes, the course materials, are here:

https://learn.sawcomics.org/courses/graphic-memoir-working-group/

and the conversation is on our own Mighty Network (join the public space here: https://sequential-artists-workshop.mn.co/feed ). 

The private URL will be given to you upon sign-up

It looks like a ton of material there. How do we go through it?

Yes, there is lots! 

We'll excavate slowly!

You can browse at any time you feel like a particular topic is what you need. You can always ask about anything in the class, but more common is that I will point to particular materials there, and have some or all of you take a look and work on the topics therein.

Is there overlap with the self-guided Graphic Memoir mini-course?

Yes, much of what is there is here also. As well as some materials from Comics for Writers and materials from all across the SAW world. 

But there is tons of nuts-and-bolts stuff not in the Graphic Memoir mini-course course, and this course gives you access to our private community...

What if we're all at different levels or stages of our project? How does that work?

It works great! I find this is a lot like a dojo; the experienced students get to deepen their understanding by guiding and assisting others, and those in beginning stages learn from a lot of collective wisdom!

What will you have us be doing?

The main thing is working on Sequences. Always creating sequences in combinations of words and pictures, and evaluating how they are working. 

As we do this, we will be trying new techniques, or bringing new understandings to each week's sequences. For instance, one week, we might focus on tone of voice, or we might focus on staying silent, or on body language or page composition or lettering. Other times we may take a step back and look at structuring our sequences. 

There are always any number of options to enliven our sequences for the week, but these assignments are just for people who want to bend towards their work in a new way.

The main thing we should always be doing is moving forward on our stories the way that makes the most sense to us.  My aim is to guide you that way.

What if I don't subscribe next month? 

You have access to the materials AND the Mighty Network Community by continuing to be a subscriber. 

The price always be sliding scale. And  you can change what you pay any month.

You will be removed from the Mighty Network when you're not subscribed; but you can rejoin and still have all your old posts available...

Sliding Scale? What Does That Mean? 

It means you pay what you can afford. You have the same access as everyone else. Thanks for paying what you can afford! 

Any more questions? Feel free to ask  tom@sequentialartistsworkshop.org 

Thanks for being on this first adventure with me!


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  • Tom Hart

    Instructor Bio:

    STAY INSPIRED

    Tom Hart is a cartoonist has been the Executive Director of The Sequential Artists Workshop, a school and arts organization in Gainesville, Florida since 2012.

    His 2016 memoir, Rosalie Lightning, debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List and was featured on many Best-Of-2016 lists.

    His Hutch Owen series of graphic novels and books, were nominated for all the major industry awards. His The Collected Hutch Owenwas nominated for best graphic novel in 2000. He was an early recipient of a Xeric Grant for self-publishing cartoonists, and has been on many best-of lists in the Comics Journal and other comix publications. He has been called “One of the great underrated cartoonists of our time” by Eddie Campbell and “One of my favorite cartoonists of the decade” by Scott McCloud. His daily Hutch Owen comic strip ran for 2 years in newspapers in New York and Boston, and his “Ali’s House”, co-created with Margo Dabaie was picked up by King Features Syndicate.

    He was a core instructor at New York City’s School of Visual Arts for 10 years, teaching cartooning to undergraduates, working adults and teens alike. Among his students were Dash Shaw, Sarah Glidden Box Brown and other published cartoonists like Leslie Stein, Jessica Fink,Josh Bayer, Brendan Leachand many others. He has taught comix and sequential art at schools and institutions all around New York City for more than 10 years, and has conducted week-long workshops from Maine to Hawaii. He also teaches sequential art in the School of Art and Art History at UF.

    His website is http://www.tomhart.net

    Tom Hart

    Executive Director of The Sequential Artists Workshop