Courses

Classes offered throughout the year…

We offer a variety of 4- and 6-week programs that will give you EVERYTHING YOU NEED to get you on your writing path! All classes listed below are included in our year-long signature programs at no additional cost!

The Psychology of Writing

Inner Critic Relief

(available on demand)

Write your way into healing and thriving for your life and your art.

Jump in for a six-week deep dive that will revolutionize your relationship with the critical voices in your head currently sabotaging your intentions and making you feel like a failure! The “inner critic” is not just a voice inside your head that tells you your art is crap. It’s also the voice that says things like “anything that doesn’t make money isn’t worth your time” and “your family will hate you if you write your book.”

Any thought or emotional energy which creates pain or brokenness is the so-called Inner Critic and these energies significantly decrease our happiness and our creative productivity. But are they telling us the truth? And more importantly, after living with them for decades, can we free ourselves from them?

There is a way to get out from under a heavy burden of negativity and grief and to activate freedom and flow.

How to Write About Trauma

(a 2-hour course usually held in the spring)

How do you write about traumatic events without re-traumatizing yourself? Now more than ever before we need to hear the stories of those who’ve faced life’s sh!t and come through it with wisdom and resilience and strength! We collectively need to know that, as Glennon Doyle says, we can “do hard things,” and come out the other side with the capacity to thrive. Join writer, family therapist, and Director of The Narrative Project, Cami Ostman to examine self-care within the writing process.

Revealing Secrets

(a 6-week deep-dive usually held in the fall)

Navigating significant relationships while revealing personal events in your writing.

Hands down the number one personal concern for writers, especially for memoir writers, is how to handle relationships with those who will be impacted by their stories. Anxiety about this can be profound, sometimes stopping the writing process altogether. Still, you know you must write this book. The urge/need/inclination to write rivals the fear of what will happen if you do so, right?

Join author, family therapist, and founder of The Narrative Project Cami Ostman for a six-week deep dive into how to manage the anxiety of revealing secrets so that you can stay committed to your writing. Cami has 25 years of experience helping people in systems (families, communities, workplaces) successfully navigate difficult conversations, put down effective boundaries, and generally heal from wounds inflicted inside of those same relationships.

Seven Stages from Book Idea to Publication

(a 2-hour course usually held in January)

The roadmap to get from idea to publication.

People offer a lot of reasons they don’t get their books done. But after supporting and observing writers (or would-be writers) over the decades, we, at The Narrative Project can say that the real reason people don’t complete their book-length projects is that they put the cart before the horse. They don’t approach the writing process in a sequential way that supports their own development as a writer. They don’t know that there are seven stages in the journey from the concept of a book idea to the publication of that book-made-manifest. And if you don’t know what those seven stages are, you will get discouraged, disorganized, and ultimately lose momentum.

Join The Narrative Project’s founder and director as she gives you Cami Ostman’s expertise as writer, writing teacher & coach, and psychotherapist make her uniquely qualified to address both the practical and psychological aspects of the writer-to-author journey. This masterclass will bring you tremendous relief from what you think is procrastination and will give you the clarity to move forward.

What Kind of Writer Are You (Myers-Briggs for Writers)

(a 2-hour course usually held in January)

This training takes a look at how your Meyers/Briggs type impacts the quality of your writing time and the way you approach your writing. This will help you get ready for the next big project or to push through to the end of one.

Ready, Set, Write

(a 4-week deep-dive usually beginning in January)

You have a book inside of you. This much you know. Perhaps your book is just an idea, or perhaps, like many of our writers, you’ve been mulling this story over for decades. At The Narrative Project, we are committed to providing everything writers need to get their books DONE. And because we know this is a very distinct and unusual time in history, we feel the pull stronger than ever to help you get your story—your voice—out into the world. Join us for a 4-Week Deep-Dive that will jumpstart your book. This is especially designed to help you put the FOUR PILLARS of SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION into place so that you’ll walk away READY to write and FINISH your book this year.

VIP Mastermind Masterclass

How long have you been dabbling with writing a book you’ve got rattling around in your head?

Like so many would-be authors, you’ve got a book you’ve been meaning to write. But despite your good intentions and your attendance at writing conferences, the book still lives only in your imagination. Join us for the VIP Half-Day Mastermind Session with The Narrative Project’s director, Cami Ostman. Cami will walk a limited number of writers through her entire ground-breaking “Mastermind Your Book” process.

You’ll leave with CLARITY about the trajectory of your whole story, including the list of scenes from the moment your main character’s journey begins to the moment the story comes to a close, a PLAN and schedule for the literal act of writing your book, CONFIDENCE your story will have meaning for readers, and INSPIRATION to move forward and finally get that book written.

The Business of Writing

Platform and Performance

(a 6-week deep-dive with bonus classes usually held in the summer)

A class for anyone wanting to sell their book someday.

Are you ready to rock your book sales? As you know, creating a platform and learning how to market your books and associated services or products is key to getting your message into the world and making money with that message. And why write a book if you don’t want to get your message into the hands of those who need to hear it? Let’s get started on the journey together. Let’s build a platform and sell books! Join us for an intensive 6-week virtual deep-dive that will give you what you need to take that book you’re writing and get it into the hands of the readers who are waiting for it!

Pitch & Sell: A Book Proposal Workshop

(a 3-hour workshop usually held in the fall)

Write the perfect query letter and book proposal.

Did you know that you don’t have to complete your non-fiction book before pitching it to an agent or an editor? Did you know that even after you finish your nonfiction book, you still need to create a stellar book proposal in order to sell it?

Don’t worry. We can walk you through the process. Learn how to pitch your book all the way from the well-crafted book proposal to looking for an agent. Cami’s book proposal for her book Second Wind was featured in Brooke Warner’s book How to Sell Your Memoir and was successful enough to attract three agents the first time she sent it out! For the past two decades she’s been helping writers complete and pitch their proposals to agents and editors. She wants to share her success with you!

Wrangling Word(s)

(a 3-week deep-dive usually beginning in April)

Are you using Microsoft Word as the powerful word processor it is, or are you just treating it more like a digital typewriter? Do you have a system in place to track critiques you’re giving and receiving in your critique group? Do you know how to make comments? Delete comments? Accept or reject changes in your document?

You’ve made the commitment to write your book. Let’s make sure all the tools are in place so you don’t waste time on things that SHOULD take a matter of seconds.

In this three-class course, we’ll get you prepped for critiques. Getting your files to your cohort and back again requires some setup and understanding of file management. Once you have file management in place, we’ll make sure you know how to track changes and add comments to critique pieces. We’ll also talk about what to do about comments when they are returned to you.

Finally, we’ll go over setting up styles in your document so as your word count grows, you can navigate around your larger document with ease.

Class 1: How to organize your files: Where do files go? How can you keep track of your files? How do you send and receive files and save them in places you can find again later?

Class 2: Using “track changes” and comment boxes to make your critiques and revisions simpler and comprehendible. How do you track changes in your own and others’ manuscripts? How do you make comments on others’ manuscripts? How do you get rid of tracked changes or comments on your own manuscript?

Class 3: Styles: How do you create headings? How do you move your chapters around with ease? How do you format your documents ONCE and never have to do it again?