Memoir Mastery: How to Write a Compelling Memoir

In this comprehensive 9-week course, you’ll go from feeling alone, confused and overwhelmed to feeling excited and supported in the power of your story, clear in its scope, and confident in the craft and technique of creating a compelling memoir.

HOW THE COURSE WORKS

The keys to writing memoir are getting the right structure, accountability, encouragement and support. That’s why I’ve built the following pieces into this course:

• 2 “on-ramp” bonus trainings to help you get your (mindset) game on and set up a writing schedule you can adhere to.
•  6 online modules covering craft and technique as well as weekly mindset tips. Each module is broken into bite-sized steps, with downloadable video trainings and supporting PDFs accessible to you for the lifetime of the course.
• 7 live group coaching calls (we’ll meet on Zoom, and all calls will be recorded in case you’re unable to make it).
• Private forum for Q&A, support and accountability.
• 4 “lift-off” bonus interviews with authors, editors and book reviewers to clarify next steps.

WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS COURSE: 

Safety, self-care, support and community are the hallmarks of this program.

Memoir Mastery is not your typical creative writing class. Writing a full-length book is a much different process than crafting a short piece, and it’s why we spend so much time on narrative arc and structure as well as safety and mindset. Craft is important, but you’ll need all of these tools to get to the finish line.

Many clients have told me how thankful they were for these unique aspects of Memoir Mastery–despite their initial reluctance to take “yet another course.”

Memoir Mastery is offered in September and January of each year.

Click here to learn more and/or to register.

Navigating the Messy Middle: How to Reenergize Your Writing, Shorten Your Timeframe and Increase Your Memoir’s Reach

Navigating the Messy Middle is a 9-week online course with 7 modules + a private forum + 9 live calls to hash out your plot lines, ask questions and get plenty of live support from me and your fellow writers.

In this class, we get clear on the big picture pieces of your memoir, including your primary narrative arc as well as your minor themes. Once we have that 10,000 foot view, we’ll pull apart what you have in order to see what’s working and where you need to course-correct. I’ll teach you what I look for when I do a developmental edit (and then we’ll spend two weeks doing developmental reviews of our manuscripts together) in order to increase your memoir’s reach and save you months of writing your way into dead-ends. This process will also save money, since working with a private coach or hiring a developmental editor gets quite pricey.

Last but not least, I’ll teach you tools to reenergize your writing, cut through the fear and put your inner mentor in the driver’s seat instead of your inner critic. As always, our foundation will be on safety, self-care and mind/body support in order to keep you healthy and facilitate a sustainable experience.

Please note: this isn’t a traditional workshop where we discuss pages. Instead, it’s meant to streamline the process and help you strengthen your narrative arc—key to keeping your reader engaged and getting your memoir published—and nail down that messy middle. Our live calls will be devoted to helping you brainstorm, troubleshoot and clarify your puzzle pieces with lots of support from me and our fellow writers.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Module 1: Creating Your Road Map
• Module 2: Strengthening Your Narrative Arc
• Module 3: Deepening Your Minor Themes (or Sub Plots)
• Module 4: Tightening Your Pacing
• Module 5: Weaving in Backstory, Flashback and Transitions
• Module 6: Supporting Your Manuscript with a Developmental Edit
• Module 7: Micro Editing and Next Steps

For those who’d like to continue, there will be an opportunity to stay with the group for an additional 6-8 week workshop in order to share pages and receive feedback from a safe, supportive group already clear on your vision. Space will be limited.

Click here to read the full course description as well as to register.

The Memoir Mastermind

A 6-month small group mastermind with teaching, support and accountability to help you complete your memoir.

You’ll write 20-25 pages a month, receiving supportive as well as constructive feedback from me as well as the larger group. The mastermind includes monthly teachings, discussions and short readings to hone your craft and techniques, as well as two group calls a month and weekly check-ins for accountability. Optional group writing calls and open-mics.

This mastermind is offered twice a year and acceptance is by application only. Priority is given to current and past clients before registration opens to the larger community.

Prerequisite: Memoir Mastery or equivalent coursework.

 

To learn more about these offerings, please contact Tanja or join her list here to receive automatic notification of new offerings. You’ll receive a copy of The Story Starter Kit as a thank you.