Events

May 21, 5pm PST. Clean Your Inner Closets! How to use your quarantine to create peace of mind and open space for renewal in your life.

May 14, 2020

As I talk with clients (both in my therapy practice and in my work with writers) I'm hearing how this quarantine has been a time of reflection and evaluation. My long-time friend and colleague, Jennavieve 'JJ' Joshua, is joining me on a FREE zoom call on May...

Mastermind Your Book

May 12, 2020

Join us for our monthly virtual Mastermind-Your-Book Workshop. We usually talk about one of the skills a writer needs to put in place in order to get their book done. And then we mastermind someone's book When: Thursday, May 14, 2020 12:00 PM Pacific Time (US and...

Open Mic Saturday, May 9 at 6pm PST

May 8, 2020

Join us for our online virtual open mic! Usually we meet at Third Place Books the second Saturday of each month for our Seattle happy hour, BUT... with the quarantine and all... We'll be on Zoom at 6pm Pacific Time on Saturday, May 9. We've got 10 slots for 5 minute...

Thursday, April 30: How to write about trauma without retraumatizing yourself

Apr 27, 2020

Join us for a FREE one-hour VIRTUAL class designed to support you as write about the hard things that have happened. Writing about trauma can be cathartic and healing, but let's face it, no one wants to relive the hard events that have shaped our lives. We'd love to...

THREE Upcoming Events

Apr 7, 2020

Mastermind Your Book (FREE): One of the PRIMARY reasons writers tell me they get stuck is that they don’t know WHERE their story is going. Time after time I meet writers who say they have 50,000 words or more but they don’t know how to bring their story home. At...

Using Other People’s Stories in Your Book

Mar 24, 2020

If you are writing a book that includes quoting others or representing the stories of clients or interviewees, you don't want to miss this FREE virtual class. Wendy Welch, author of Fall or Fly: The Strangely Hopeful Story of Foster Care and Adoption in Appalachia,...

How are You Spending your Time in “Social Distancing?” I’ll tell you what we’re doing? We’re jumping into writing our books!!!

Mar 21, 2020

This is a strange moment in history, isn't it? But do you know what else is happening as we hunker down to prevent ourselves from infecting each other? A wonderful, interesting, smart, creative group of writers is on the journey with The Narrative Project to finish...

The Cure for Cabin Fever: Saturday, March 21 at 10am Pacific Time.

Mar 17, 2020

You're stuck at home in quarantine, right?Why not use this time to work on your book? The NUMBER ONE reason people tell me they haven't gotten their book written is TIME. They can't find the time.Now that you've got some time in the house, let me show you...

Using Styles in Word to Make Your Writing Life Easier

Mar 2, 2020

Host: Lisa Dailey, Sidekick Press Please join us for a talk about using styles in Microsoft Word this Thursday, March 5, at 6:00 p.m. Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/v50pfu2qqT8sHYErheuOyI2sI6jKRroAeA In this session, you will learn: what exactly a style...

Join us right now!

Feb 26, 2020

Let me tell you a story, writer. When I was in the 7thgrade, I got a new journal that I used for writing what I called “prose poetry.” I spent hours in my room at night putting words together in combinations that, to me, sounded smart or interesting or beautiful. My...

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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

TNP 9-Month Program

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