National Association of Memoir Writers

presents a new class with Dr. Linda Joy Myers

The Challenge of Beginnings

A Six-Week Memoir Writing Class for Memoirists at Every Stage 

June 24 – July 29, 2026     |     Six Wednesdays     |     4:00–5:30 PM PDT  /  7:00–8:30 PM EDT

Via Zoom  •  Sessions Recorded  •  Slides Provided

$219    |  NAMW Members: $209  |  Early Bird by June 19: $199

You want to write your story. It has been whispering in your year, tugging at your heart. But something keeps stopping you.

Maybe it’s those other voices that you hear more clearly — the ones that say: How dare you write your truth? What will your family say? You should be ashamed of how you lived your life.

Or it’s the inner critic: You don’t know enough about writing. Who cares? Your story isn’t unique. You don’t have the skills. (It is unique. And you do.)

Don’t let those voices stop you. Every writer — even celebrated ones — wanders a bit at the beginning, uncertain of where to start or what the story is really about. What matters is that you begin to write something. Getting started is what’s important now.

Your heart is asking you to write your story. We all benefit from support, encouragement, and craft lessons. In a class that digs deep into the meaning of each story, you’ll find the universal within the personal, and discover that your story matters.

A guided writing class with a professional memoir author who is also a therapist will help you begin — and learn how to continue. This is a journey, not a sprint! NAMW and your classmates will be there to support you, and mirror back the value of your stories.

This summer, Linda Joy is offering The Challenge of Beginnings — a six-week class for people who are beginning their memoir or returning to a project they set aside. Each session includes a brief writing prompt and sharing, with warm, supportive feedback. All writing is held in confidence.

• Your story and why it matters. We begin by exploring what your story is about, why you want — and need — to write it. We’ll touch on moments that matter, and finding your courage to begin.
• The basic foundations. Turning points and moments that matter. Timelines. How memory works and how to capture those buried moments. How to write freely without stopping yourself.
• Scene — the engine of memoir. Scenes are what keep your story alive on the page. We’ll dig into the essential elements: sensory details, description, place, time, and meaningful emotional change.
• Narration and point of view. Who is telling your story? You now, or you then? We’ll explore how your position in time shapes everything and how to find a storyteller voice.
• Characters and dialogue. The people you loved, lost, and sometimes couldn’t stand — how to write them honestly and freely from your own point of view.
• Find a structure — that makes sense to you. What structure means in memoir, how to begin imagining it, and how to approach it.

In this class, we hold a beginner’s mind: open, curious, and ready to learn through writing.

Dr. Linda Joy Myers founded the National Association of Memoir Writers in 2008 to gather writers and give them the skills and community to develop their memoirs toward publication. She is the author of two award-winning memoirs, Don’t Call Me Mother and Song of the Plains; two guides for memoir writers, The Power of Memoir and Journey of Memoir; and the prize-winning novel The Forger of Marseille, a Finalist for the Hemingway War Fiction Award and silver medalist from the Independent Publishers Book Awards.

A memoir coach for 35 years and a therapist for 45, Linda Joy brings a rare combination of craft knowledge and psychological depth to her teaching. She helps writers find their voice, understand the emotional architecture of their story, and get their unique memoir into the world.

Her forthcoming book, The Heart and Craft of Writing a Healing Memoir, will be available through Sybil Craft Books in 2027.

→ Register Now — Space is Limited

Questions? Contact us at customersupport@namw.org.

Mini-Workshop with Linda Joy Myers
June 18, 2026
2-4 PM PDT | 5-7 PM EDT 

We become storytellers when we write our memoir, using our own voice and point of view. We are the creators of our story. Do you feel that you tell your story in your own voice? What is your voice, you wonder. How can I get a reader to feel what it was like to live my life, you ask yourself.

Think of it this way: You know what it’s like when you’re reading and the rest of the world falls away. You’re immersed in the story, the rhythm of the words. The meaning and emotion the characters present. That is what we must do as memoirists—create what John Gardner calls “the fictive dream.” To write so evocatively that the reader is immersed in the world of story.

In a memoir, we are the narrator, guiding the reader through the unfolding story. And at the same time, we’re presenting a character in our scenes who is living the story. The voice of the narrator is a curated version of ourselves, a voice that we shape according to mood, feelings, reactions, desires. The “I” of the storyteller knows all, while the character “I” is in scene, living out a particular moment.

This is where our skill comes in as memoirists—learning how to discern and manage the two “I’s” as we write and develop our story. It’s this skill that creates a seamless experience for the reader. And it’s important for us as memoirists. This integration of the two “I” points of view is healing. We hover in two time frames, the aware “now” version of the story and the “then” when we were unaware, and living things out.

In this workshop we will explore all these skills—learning how to be the storyteller and manage time and voice is one of the most important elements of craft you need to know. We’ll read examples and write and share. Join us to learn craft that can shape your writing skills for the future!

Please Note: This class will be recorded. All participants will receive the recording following the event.

Why Join NAMW? 
There are many benefits to becoming a member—multiple archives of audios, articles, and teaching materials you can draw from in the member section of our website. And we offer three live programs each month! And NAMW members receive discounts on all our classes and workshops. The classes and workshops are geared to give a memoir writer specific skills, writing scenes, learning about the storyteller voice, and point of view, among others. And inspiration—classes on How to Write a Healing Memoir, Writing the Hard Stuff, how to manage family and friends– and more yet to come in 2026.

Every month NAMW members enjoy participating in our live Member Events on Zoom. Inspiring experts in the field of memoir writing and publishing speak about developing craft, how to tame the inner critic, how to write about family, and how to write your truth. And discussions on social media, podcasts, publishing, and marketing—ways to get your work into the world.

In our Group Coaching live Zoom event members gather in an intimate zoom room to discuss their progress on their memoir, and ask questions like how do I find an agent and write a proposal? How do you write a healing memoir? What tenses work best?  How to edit toward publication.

Each month we host the live Virtual Book Club discussion where “regular people” who wrote a memoir share their book, discuss how they were inspired to write it, and how they chose their publishing path. Many who are featured in the club are former students and debut memoir writers who went the distance, and now they generously share their tips and wisdom!

Learn more about our many member benefits here.

This 4-week course focuses in depth on what memoirists can learn from Dani Shapiro’s experience of writing what you know, digging into your obsessions, and finding your truth in your unique voice. This course focuses on the power of universal writing, supporting your readers to feel and experience your story as their own, and how to weave narration (and narrative voice) between the past and the present.

Class 1 HONORING THE STORY THAT WON’T LEAVE YOU ALONE—Obsession and unconscious awareness of truth—the “unthought known.”

Class 2 HARNESSING SELF-UNDERSTANDING IN MEMOIR—Exploring who you are, layers of self, shadow self, imagined self.

Class 3 WEAVING IN THE PAST TO MAKE SENSE OF THE PRESENT—How to use narration to weave your story—tense, memory, flashback and transitions.

Class 4 THE POWER OF UNIVERSAL WRITING-How to make your writing resonant; reflection, takeaway and finding meaning in scenes and prose.

*Please note: Sale bonuses will be sent via email after the sale has concluded. 

Starts:
Tuesdays 3-5 PM PDT
Starts June 2 for 8 weeks
Dates: June 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
July 7, 14, 21

Next workshop: August 4—another 8 weeks
$629—includes 15-minute individual consultation with Linda Joy
Payment plan OK. $314.50 ½ payment. Just request it from Linda Joy.

Goal: write to a deadline each week.
Feel the joy of accomplishment and accountability.
Immerse deeply into  your story and your intention to write and complete your work as far as you can.
Additionally, learn how to absorb feedback and insights from other writers.
Know that you are safe in this group—feedback is offered with compassion and positive intentions.

Work on your memoir with accountability to keep you going!
Witness the stories written by your colleagues in class and learn how to respond and edit.

Word Count
1000 maximum word count ideally
Any writing is great, no matter how brief. Submit what you have—it will grow.

Feedback, safety, and learning in our workshop
We all agree to confidentiality in the workshop.
Feedback received and given is part of the learning.
Linda Joy’s teaching will be woven in as triggered by the content.
Craft—how to absorb what makes a good memoir and yet stay true to your voice.
Trust your own ideas and creativity.
Each group member is a witness to the others—part of the healing process

Two-Hour Class with Linda Joy Myers
May  21, 2026
2-4 PM PDT | 5-7 PM EDT 

Many memoir writers want to share their family story, having been inspired by hearing those stories told over coffee or by the fireplace through the years. And some people discover fascinating details that beckon them to capture those stories on the page. Stories that we’ve inherited from previous generations provide threads that weave part of our own identity, and ways we can understand ourselves. You, the memoirist, become a storyteller who guides the reader into scenes from the past, and links up the various layers of their story and your own. Yes, it is a memoir even if you diverge into another person’s point of view—this has to be done carefully. Think about: who told you those stories? Remember, each family member has their own “take” on other family members, whether positive, negative, or ironic. And what is your point of view about the histories running through the generations?

Research is a big part of the family story, whether through documents in the desk, the Bible, diaries, videos, recorded histories, or what you have sorted out on your own. Did you interact with the family member as they told their story? How much of yourself will you be putting into the story?  Issues of who the narrator is and the best way to convey the various layers of history are all questions to solve.

This is an interactive class and we’ll talk about:

• When and where in time the stories you’re sharing take place. Why are they interesting to you? What draws you to research and write these stories?
• How you plan to tell the stories: as a memoirist, and bring yourself, your thoughts and feelings about the events of the main characters. Or did you want to write from someone else’s point of view? Do you know enough of their point of view to create a dramatic story—it needs to be more than facts!
• Angles of research, and your own efforts to find out more.
• How you can inhabit the point of view of various characters—essentially creating a lived story, as if it’s fiction, but if handled properly, it’s still memoir.
• Creating timelines and character sketches—we’ll do some writing.
• And more!

Bring your own questions, photos, and histories you want to draw from to share in class.

Please Note: This class will be recorded. All participants will receive the recording following the event.