Coming Soon:

A writing group for those curating their personal archives and documenting family history

We are all born into an inherited story. Sometimes that story comes in the form of left behind diaries, worn out documents, or through snippets of conversations at the dinner table. Sometimes the story is interpreted through photographs and collected souvenirs. And, in many cases the story lives in the silent spaces of memories never spoken. Sometimes we don’t think about the stories of the past and sometimes they feel like a weight that we need to write away. In my workshops and individual coaching sessions, we will focus on both the craft of storytelling and the practice of documenting our own memories. We will dive into the complicated questions and ethics of taking family stories, whether they are ours or someone else’s, and sharing them in public domains. We will discuss what to do with competing or contradictory memories/facts, the question of whose perspective to tell a story from, and how to choose what isn’t included in our storytelling (sometimes the hardest part). We will also consider the responsibility of passing down stories to future generations. And for those who are embarking on multimedia projects, we will explore how to use audio, photographs, primary sources, testimony and other creative elements to bring our stories alive.

Writing Workshops

These are small group workshops where we engage with each others stories for inspiration, education and feedback. For one-time workshops, there is a minimum of a 2-hour session whereas multi-session workshops can be sculpted to the groups goals and time constraints. Workshops include a combination of writing prompts and conversations with a goal of getting words on to the paper. Some of this will be stream of consciousness writing that can be worked into essays and chapters, as well as crafting our words and thinking about ways to reorganize information so it’s most engaging for the reader. In addition, participants will gain new skills in how to work through writers block and that exhausting feeling of being too overwhelmed to start.

Coaching / Consulting

These sessions are for individuals and can be booked as one-time sessions or as ongoing check-ins. Similar to the workshops, these sessions aim to hone your skills in the craft of storytelling and most importantly have you leaving our sessions with works-in-progress. This option is also available for folks who are seeking guidance on how to integrate their own personal story and family history into a speaking tour, media appearances or other public facing spaces. If you want to talk through a project to explore if it is worth pursuing and in what way, we can book a 60-minute conversation to dig in and see whats possible.

Curating Our Archives

Have you inherited old papers, photographs, documents, and journals and aren’t sure how to take care of them? Are you worried that the stories you attach to items will be lost over the years? Or is your own digital archive overwhelming you and you want to organize it for yourself and your next generations? Reach out and let’s work together. This multi-session program will be specifically created to fit your family archive goals and aim to help you organize and preserve your story.