Events

Information Meeting–2022 Get-Your-Book-Done Program: Open for Enrollment

Nov 10, 2021

Hi Writer, We are nearly through 2021. As the world has opened up (at least for now), I've heard from many of you that it's been difficult to maintain motivation to get your butt in the chair. I completely understand. I've been grateful to have coffee shops back, but...

True Stories Volume III Launches on Saturday, January 23 at 4pm PST

Jan 20, 2021

Join us to celebrate, and visualize your own future as a published author! If you are someone who has always wanted to see your words in a book, to hold in your hands the fruit of weeks, months, or even years of drafting and revising, then you will appreciate what the...

FREE Virtual Writing Conference!

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...

Rock Your Writing: Upcoming TNP Events

Oct 25, 2020

The Narrative Project coaches—aka Story Warriors—and I are very aware that during these strange days, people are BUBBLING with stories they NEED to tell. There is something about a world-wide pandemic, serious racial strife and the need for police reform, an...

Write Like Water

Oct 15, 2020

“The thing about water,” my cuz told me, when we got around to the topic of my leaky sink, “is that it follows the path of least resistance.” …I started thinking a lot about how water is like the writing process, and particularly how the behavior of water can inform how to think about story structure.

Starts September 10: Pitch and Sell Your Book 4-week Course

Sep 2, 2020

Writers, I remember the early days of pitching my first book, Second Wind. I thought I had something people would want to read, but I didn't know what to DO with my manuscript. I went to a writers' workshop and pitched my idea to a few agents and editors. The first...

New 9-Month Session of the Next Chapter starting with the awesome Laurel Leigh!!!

Aug 17, 2020

Darlings, we've scored big. I've been after Laurel to join the Narrative Project crew for years. And now she's here!!!! Join me in welcoming your new REVISIONS coach, Laurel Leigh. As you know, our Get-Your-Book-Done program walks writers through nine months of...

A Chanticleer Review of Celia’s Heaven by (our very own) Nancy Canyon

Jul 30, 2020

Writerly pals, we are incredibly lucky at The Narrative Project to have among our coaches award winning authors. Nancy Canyon joined us last year as a coach, and this year I get to brag about her and her new book. Below is the review of her new book, Celia's Heaven...

Friday, July 24, 2020!—Beyond the Book: How to use your book to grow your business

Jul 21, 2020

Sign up now! What we'll cover: *How to use your book to grow your business *How to craft a transformational offering for your clients related to the content of your book *How to promote and fill your back-end programs *How to pivot an in-person business to serve...

Join Us for Open Mic July 11, 6pm

Jul 3, 2020

Can you believe we are in July ? And while some of our local bookstores are open for browsing on a limited basis, we still aren't able to gather as we'd like to. So let's be together virtually. We have 10 5-minute spots for reading. Sign at the meeting. You are...

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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