Write Your Story. Change Your Life.
Jumpstart Your Memoir
A self-paced course for first-time memoirists.
You’re frustrated. You’ve been wanting to write a memoir but you’re having trouble getting words on the page. There are always excuses. You don’t have enough time, know-how, courage or caffeine. Your chair’s uncomfortable. The dog needs a bath. You know the drill.
If you’ve got a story to tell but need some support getting started and understanding how to write a memoir, this course is for you.
Allow Me to Introduce Myself…
Hi! I’m Shari Caudron and I’m passionate about the life-changing power of personal narrative.
I believe stories are the most powerful things we possess. But most of us are too close to see our stories–we don’t know what they’re telling us or how to revise them for the better. I want to change that.
The world needs your story. More importantly, you need your story. To live a meaningful and fulfilling life you need to see the gifts and wisdom hidden inside your life story so that you can share those gifts with others.
I see stories. That’s my superpower. And I put it to work two ways:
As a memoir coach who can help you understand, write and publish your story, and…
As a teacher, retreat guide, and mentor to women who wish to craft a new narrative for their lives going forward.
Story Matters
A blog about a bunch of different story-related stuff…
Writing on Purpose
One of the great privileges of coaching authors is that I get to work with people motivated by a deep sense of purpose. But often, when I start working with a new client, they can’t easily articulate why it is they must write a book. Often, they’ll attribute their desire to [...]
Go From Good to Great Using Your Powers of Observation
By Susan Orlean (This article originally appeared in Medium on November 5, 2021. I wanted to repost it here because Susan Orlean has been a tremendous teacher for me in my writing career. If you want to know how to craft compelling nonfiction, read her work!) It’s stating the obvious to [...]
The Crumpled Note Story
When I was eleven years old, still flat-chested and shaggy-haired, I wrote my father a note explaining in painstaking detail the hurt I felt over some favoritism he’d shown my younger sister. The specific incident is lost to memory, but I remember writing and rewriting that note several times until [...]
What Our Keyboards Teach Us
The last two weeks I’ve been avoiding my piano, and two nights ago, after a particularly frustrating night of practice, I realized why. Whenever I’d sit down to play—or, more accurately, clonk my way through the beginner’s book—I’d find myself confronting patterns of behavior that have plagued me my entire [...]
Are You Ready To Begin?
I contemplated writing a memoir for four years before I started writing one in earnest. During those years, I took notes, wrote some scenes, created a list of memories, read other memoirs, played with structure. But I didn’t write consistently. Instead, I wrote when I felt like it, when I [...]
Getting Personal with Millions of Readers
I read this story in the New York Times and it holds so many lessons for aspiring memoirists I wanted to share it here. When Brooks Barnes, a correspondent who covers Hollywood for The New York Times, pitched an essay late last year about what it was like to grow up in a [...]
Testimonials
“I couldn’t have written my memoir without Shari’s help – she taught me the important difference between journaling and memoir. The format of her six-month coaching sessions allowed me to approach the writing chapter by chapter and produce a first draft by the end of that coaching. Her guidance was so detailed and ideas so spot-on that I was able to work on my own from there to incorporate the suggested changes into my edits to create a compelling final manuscript.”
MICHELE MORRIS
author, Poco a Poco, A Memoir
Outskirts Press, 2018
Winner, Colorado Book Award
Silver Medal Winner,
Nautilus Book Awards
“By asking great questions, Shari was able to tease out the nuggets from my brain so I could get them on paper. Shari is determined to make a difference for her clients and gets very invested in their projects. You couldn’t ask for anyone better on your team.”
TAMRA RYAN
author, The Third Law,
Gilpin House Press, 2013
Gold Medal Winner,
2015 Axiom Business Book Awards for Women/Minorities in Business
Gold Medal Winner, 2015 Living Now Book Awards for Social Activism/Charity
Winner, The Book Excellence Award for
Civic/Social Change
“Without fail, even brief conversations with Shari reinvigorated my writing. She is a purveyor of confidence, clarity, and stamina. She has the insight of a skilled therapist, and the craft of a great writer. She has been a cheerleader and a teacher and a friend. And truly, what more could a writer ask for?”
CARA MENTZEL
author, Voice Lessons: A Sisters Story
Macmillian, 2017
Featured on The Today Show, Pickler & Ben, NY Live, People.com, and named a top 20 Goodreads choice for best memoir