Write your compelling true story in community

Memoir writing classes coming up for Fall 2024

This spring, before I started living out of a rental van, before I visited Japan or went to aikido camp or packed up the house, I taught a memoir writing class!

I wanted to take a minute to reflect and give you an update—I was advertising a lot for this class because I was excited and then I didn’t post anything else about it, so it probably seems unclear what the class was like.

Well, it was great! We had an engaged and supportive weekly discussion group, and I was thrilled to see folks grow as writers over the four weeks we were together.

In everything I’ve taught, writing, aikido, etc, I like to reflect on what I’ve learned.

This session of the writing class helped me dig into how to write about emotions, especially past emotions. And what if you don’t remember how you felt or were dissociating at the time? I think it’s still possible to describe the physical sensations, or even admit to the lack of expected emotions in such a situation. I recently returned to a piece of my own writing and poured physical sensations into the scene (even though I couldn’t accurately describe what emotions I was feeling at the time.) I really appreciated everyone’s contributions to the discussions I led in the class, which this time centered around how to retrieve past experiences and make them vivid, lifelike, and full of emotion.

I believe everyone has stories to tell, and I was so happy to read and give encouraging feedback on the excellent work everyone had to share for our class. I feel like it was a helpful experience that I’m looking forward to building on in my upcoming classes and offerings in the fall.

But don’t take my word for it, as LeVar Burton says on Reading Rainbow. I received some great feedback from class participants. Here’s some quotes:

Asmita says her favorite parts were “discussing emotions and how to write about them,” and “connecting with amazing humans!”

Sxd says, “I was glad to learn from other people about what worked for them in their writing and appreciated feedback from the instructor on how to make my pieces more effective. I enjoyed the small class size, the interactive nature of the group and the overall feedback by the teacher.”

Robin says,

As an established writer with a steady following I know that I'm already creating content that's liked. This class took my own expectations of my work to a higher level. It really helped me gain new perspectives on how to add emotion and portray feelings in a way that's relatable for my audience.

Being in a live meeting space with other creators was also very valuable. I felt seen in those common struggles a lot of us faced together.

Rey's guidance, both in the written/video class content, in the "classroom" discussions with us, and in their feedback on my assignments was thoughtful, sensitive to the varied needs of the group, and pushed me to work harder to write a better essay. I can't express enough gratitude for them in this class!

Thanks so much for the kind feedback, all. I feel grateful for the opportunity to connect and be involved in your inspiring and excellent writing!

As you can tell, the weekly discussion group was a great part of the class. So good, in fact, that I’m planning to organize an offering that is a weekly discussion group for writers. We’ll be a supportive, encouraging, helpful community so you don’t have to write these hard pieces alone.

I’m also working on a new class, Writing Outside the Gender Binary, which will share everything I’ve learned from writing online as a trans person, editing others’ work, and reading many trans memoirs.

If you’re interested in signing up for a future session of Memoir: Writing Your Compelling True Story (4 week class), joining us weekly for a discussion group, and/or Writing Outside the Gender Binary (new 4 week class), please fill out this quick form so I can share more details with you (but no pressure to enroll).

Thanks so much for reading! And if you’d like more information about future classes, please fill out the form!

Take care,

Rey