Blog

Dear baby-writer: Go. Go. Go. Don’t stop!

by Dana Tye Rally | Jun 2, 2021

I like to joke that the only sign I was meant to be a writer was all that bad poetry I wrote when I was young. This phase seemed to peak in my teens. Hard emotions percolated up to the surface right after a bad breakup or a bout of disillusionment over my disconnected...

How To Deal With Imposter Syndrome

by Cami Ostman | May 14, 2021

Writer, EVERYONE feels like an imposter… until they don’t. The key to thriving in anything is to making sure your INNER CHAMPION, not your Inner Critic, is in leadership.

How To Eliminate Writer’s Block

by Nancy Canyon | Apr 24, 2021

Sometimes saying yes shakes up the story, opening up possibilities for a new scene. I trust the magic of the writing process.

It Took Me More than THREE Decades to Become an Author–YOU shouldn’t have to wait that long!

by Cami Ostman | Mar 24, 2021

I was eight years old the first time I wrote a poem. That first little rhyming ditty was crafted in response to the massive emotions I felt standing next to the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life. And I can STILL remember the relief—the utter RELEASE of...

Stuck? Staring at the Computer Wondering What to Say? It’s Not Too Late to Get Your Book Done with Us in 2021! We Can Get You Where You Want to Go!

by Cami Ostman | Mar 23, 2021

“Writing is like going to the gym… It’s something you do by yourself. This program is a writing program, yes, but for me, since I was writing about trauma, it was therapy too. And I wasn’t alone on the journey.”Roger, TNP Graduate Writer, When I designed The Narrative...

Ready to Run (or shall I say, “Write”) Toward the Finish Line this Year?

by Cami Ostman | Mar 10, 2021

Dear writer, I’ve taught hundreds of writers the FOUR PILLARS of SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION. When you know you have a book in you, but you don’t know how to GET IT DONE, you need systems—a drafting system, a system for revisions, a support system for the hard times, a...

Holy sh!t!!! These Writers are on Fire!

by Cami Ostman | Mar 1, 2021

I am completely, totally, ridiculously excited to have just graduated 45 writers from our Ready, Set, Write! six-week deep-dive, where we looked at the FOUR PILLARS OF SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION to get these writers set up to write their books in 2021. Some amazing stories...

The Seven Steps for Crafting Your Writer Identity

by Laurel Leigh | Feb 18, 2021

As writers, we each have a unique writer identity: a public image we create and project as we establish our authorial voice and share it publicly. But how do we decide what it should be? And how do we nurture and cultivate it?

Supportive, Structured Critique Groups

by Dana Tye Rally | Feb 9, 2021

those quivering first-timer critique-group days have long passed, and I’ve not only survived them, I’ve become a fan. Critique groups, the good ones, are the bomb. They seem especially helpful for writers like me who need the dynamic duo—support and accountability—to keep their creative motors running.

What Are You Waiting For?

by Cami Ostman | Dec 27, 2020

Wow! This year is nearly over, dear ones. The STORY of 2020 will go down in history, n’est pas? This epic year has been full of hard, hard things. And I know that for many of you, as for me, it hasn’t just been the pandemic, the racial struggles and protests, and the...

FREE Virtual Writing Conference!

by Cami Ostman | Nov 30, 2020

Hey Authors! We are finally at the end of 2020! With New Year's resolutions around the corner, I want to let you know about WRITE THAT BOOK ALREADY!--an exciting FREE virtual writing conference co-hosted by The Narrative Project and Sidekick Press. Lisa Daily of...

Colleen’s Five Rules for Morning Writing

by Colleen Haggerty | Nov 25, 2020

The five keys to morning writing: ritual, community, connection, mess, and trust.

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Testimonials from students

“Cami’s keen instructions, insights, gentle guidance and authentic caring for my writing woke my writer up! I have more enthusiasm for my writing now and more knowledge with which to approach my projects. I am more confident and joyous in my writing thanks to Cami!”

—JJ Joshua, Intuitive Coach and Self-help Author

“I was #1 in Russian Travel and I’ve won the Moritz Thomsen Peace Corps Experience Award for 2014! I even had the chance to do a book reading at the Kazakh Embassy in DC. My book journey is going well and Cami made that happen.”

—Janet Givens, author of At Home on the Kazakh Steppe: A Peace Corps Memoir

“When I hired Cami as a developmental editor for my memoir, my manuscript felt like a massive ball of tangled yarn. With her years of experience as a therapist, Cami has a keen eye for identifying themes, motivations, and resolutions, which allowed her to masterfully pull the threads of my story out of the mess. She laid them across the arc of my book with precision. Cami helped me to produce the book I truly wanted to write.”

—Colleen Haggerty, author of A Leg to Stand On

“Cami is a talented writer with a special devotion to bringing out the best in other people’s work. I contributed an essay to her book, Beyond Belief, and communicated with her on developmental edits for my piece. Her direction and notes were so valuable to bringing my storytelling to greater heights, and I am impressed at the level of care and detail she showed for each of her many contributors. I highly recommend working with Cami, and I recommend her books too!”

—Erin Seaward-Hiatt, contributing author in Beyond Belief

“If it had not been for finding Cami and the Narrative Project, I would still be limping through a terrible first draft, picking at line edits. Instead, in two and a half years I have transformed the narrative of the memoir I have been dinking away at for decades. The Narrative Project has provided me with more tools than I even knew I needed. Instead of dreading the writing that goes nowhere, I am enjoying the ride, creating new possibilities and diving in to discover more ways to share with the words that are just right.”

—Lora Hein

“I started with half a dozen personal essays. After eighteen months of hard work along with the smart feedback, keen eyes, and pertinent, invaluable critique from this program’s leaders and members, I finally had the first draft of my memoir!”

—Renee DeMont

“I participated in the first Narrative Project program in October of 2016 after returning from a three-week solo backpack trip in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains with the specific intention of using that trip as the basis for a memoir I hoped to write. I had absolutely no idea how to start this project, but by the end of the program, I had a structure within which to write and a full 140,000-word rough draft! I can say with certainty that I would not be where I am with my memoir were it not for this well-structured and accountability-based phenomenal program.”

—Kathie Tupper

“After I suffered a traumatic brain injury, I wanted to explore the experience in a memoir. I started working with Cami Ostman in her nine-month Narrative Project course, and I followed up with her Next Chapter course the following year. I wrote somewhat slowly because of my injuries, but Cami supported my work, offered numerous suggestions for getting through the draft, and gave me many tools to understand what I was trying to express and how to do it. If you have a story to tell but have not been able to get yourself started, I cannot recommend highly enough the Narrative Project program as a way to push yourself, as well as create the best possible version of your story.”

—Sean Dwyer

The Narrative Project gave me everything I needed to shape mountains of research into the book I envisioned. More importantly, I have made lifelong friends and we have continued to support each other as we bring our stories into the world.

—Anne

Dabbling for over twenty years at writing the stories of my life with my husband and four children in Africa and Asia, I realized I did not know what I was doing when it came to writing my memoir. I attended one of Cami’s free writing workshops and committed my time and energy to her nine-month program. Cami Ostman and my critique group helped me find the threads that pulled my stories together and see myself as a writer.

—Tori

On a chilly September day in 2018, I entered Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park to attend a free one-day seminar held by Cami Ostman. Having never attended a writing workshop, I had preconceived notions that I would write. While I didn’t write that day, the kindling within my soul was sparked and my desire to write my story ceased being a dream and began to be a reality. I joined the 9-month program and went from 0 words on the page to over 70,000. I learned about the writing process, themes, and gained new confidence in my ability to write. The best is yet to come!

—KristiLyn

In my 18 months with the Narrative Project, I have learned that a writer doesn’t write alone. TNP fosters a community of value beyond payment or description. The support is that of a healthy family, and the critique is that of an inspiring Masters program. The Narrative Project has provided me with an all-inclusive roadmap for how to live my dream as a published writer, and the confidence to get my butt in the chair.

—Anni

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