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Sustainability in Writing and Life

July 21, 2022 / Tanja Pajevic / blog / No Comments

The last couple of months have been a wild ride, with the dismantling of Roe v. Wade, the ongoing Ukraine war, climate inaction, inflation, oppressive heat waves, ugh. Staying engaged seems especially challenging these days. Writing, even more so. At the same time, how can we move forward if we’re not engaged? How do we stay resilient in the face of so much yuck? You might also be wondering if writing even matters when the world is on fire. The Importance of Sustainability in Writing and Life The past few years have been a doozy, and as we continue to navigate these deeply challenging times, I keep returning to the importance of sustainability. The only way I can affect change is to stay grounded, nourished and sane. When I fall into panic, overwork and depletion, nobody benefits. But when I can stay […]

Birthing a Book + Memoir Writing Classes

June 1, 2022 / Tanja Pajevic / blog / No Comments

Yesterday, one of our writers shared that she’d just landed a publisher! J and I have been working together for a few years and it took her longer than she expected to get her memoir written, so it’s especially sweet to see her so close to the finish line. After celebrating, we spoke about the challenges of writing memoir, and how birthing a book is a process. Much like birthing a baby, we can’t rush the process. As you probably know, writing a full-length memoir isn’t the easiest journey. Because of its personal nature, memoir can be a long and twisty journey, one that’s even trickier for those of us dealing with difficult material. It also isn’t the easiest journey to travel alone. And you might find that you need different kinds of support along the way. Memoir Writing Classes Here’s the […]

How to Build a Strong Narrative Arc in Memoir

February 26, 2022 / Tanja Pajevic / blog / No Comments

A key concept in my memoir courses is the importance of building your memoir around conflict and tension. In the simplest possible terms, your character needs to want something. What is it that she wants? What’s stopping her from getting it? And what’s at stake if she doesn’t get it? The answers to those questions create tension, which is what keeps the reader turning the pages. It’s what keeps your reader engaged. But when we’re writing a book-length memoir, it’s easy for the tension to drop in the middle. And if your reader gets bored and puts your book down, then you’ve lost your chance at making an impact. That’s why we discuss various ways to maintain that tension throughout your entire memoir in my new 9-week online course, Navigating the Messy Middle. Juggling your primary theme with your minor themes (or subplots) […]

The Importance of Choosing

December 20, 2021 / Tanja Pajevic / blog / 2 Comments

With the New Year around the corner, many of us are excited to start new writing projects or dive into old ones. If you have multiple writing projects on your plate, it can be challenging to decide where to spend your precious time and energy. How to Focus Your Writing Time and Energy That can be even harder if you’ve been working on your memoir for a long time. Stories grow and change over time, and sometimes we need to let go of an outdated vision in order to make way for a new one. Other times, the beating heart of the project is still there, waiting for us. The trick is in consciously deciding. Oftentimes, we put off choosing in a misguided attempt at keeping ourselves safe. But that just keeps us stuck. And it keeps our dreams on the back burner. So […]

What are You Really Writing About?

November 9, 2021 / Tanja Pajevic / blog / 2 Comments

What is Your Memoir Really About? With memoir, it can take some digging to get to the heart of what we’re really writing about. There’s the story of what happened, and then there’s the meaning we’ve attached to it. In memoir, it’s not enough to tell us what happened—we need to know what that event meant to you. To help with that clarity, here’s an exercise I did with a recent class at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. “Truth in a memoir is achieved not through a recital of actual events; it is achieved when the reader comes to believe that the writer is working hard to engage with the experience at hand. What happened to the writer is not what matters; what matters is the larger sense that the writer is able to make of what happened.” Vivian Gornick, The Situation and the Story […]

Writer’s Block? Try This

October 8, 2021 / Tanja Pajevic / blog / No Comments

In my Memoir Mastery course and Mastermind workshop group, we’ve spent the past month talking about structure. There’s the craft and technique of writing memoir and then there’s the pulling together of all the pieces. That can be daunting with a book length project. It can be easy to fall into overwhelm. Memoir Writing Tips Today I’d like to invite you to bring curiosity to your project. To approach your memoir with inquiry instead of overwhelm. Instead of shutting down into “I don’t know how,” try opening into inquiry: “How can I?” This can be a powerful reframe, helping us write from an open and expansive place vs. a stressed and constricted one. Here’s an example of how this played out for me this week: For the past month or so, I’ve been circling around a structural problem with my current memoir. Forcing […]