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

$209     |  NAMW Members: $199   |  Early Bird by June 23: $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.