The Manageable Memoir
online writing course
Build a memoir in 100 days
using the Imaginative Storm method
With writing experts Allegra Huston and James Navé
Why Write a Manageable Memoir?
You have an urge to write about your life. Perhaps a necessity: for the benefit of your children, or for your own benefit, to make sense of what happened to you, what you’ve done, what you’ve learned, and in the end, who you are.
But! (There are always “but”s, right?)
you feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of material
you don’t know how to pull a story out of the vastness of your life’s journey
you don’t know if you can keep believing in yourself for the years that writing a memoir will take
you don’t know whether, even given years of work, you’ll have a memoir at all
you don’t really know what your memoir would be about
you don’t know where to start
The Manageable Memoir is the solution to all these “but”s. In just 90 minutes, we will show you a way to plot a path through the vast reservoir of your experiences. We’ll give you confidence in your ability to create an emotionally engaging narrative.
And—not only will we show you where to start, we’ll get you started! When you finish the 90 minutes of this course, you will have three pieces of writing, and you’ll be off to a flying start.
In 100 days, you’ll have a memoir you can be proud of. Sure, you may go back and edit, but the bones of your memoir will be strong and sturdy. Very likely it won’t be the memoir you thought you’d tell. Instead, it will be a collaged narrative that expresses you, and the way you meet and make meaning of your life.
And maybe, with the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel having completed your Manageable Memoir, you’ll feel energized and confident enough to embark on the other memoir, the one you thought you’d write. You’ll know how to start answering those “but”s. Best of all, you’ll have learned a powerful writing method that will serve you in whatever you write, for the rest of your life.
Your Bestselling Writing Experts
Allegra Huston
“As a former Editorial Director of the London publisher Weidenfeld & Nicolson and holder of a First Class degree in English from Oxford University, I'm all about good writing. But when I started writing myself, I wasn't able to write anything I liked! Maybe I just can't write, I thought. I was trying as hard as I could to write well.
The Imaginative Storm method was a revelation to me. I learned that trying to write well didn't help me. That my writing would be better, and my own authentic voice would emerge, if I didn't try so hard. James Navé taught me to surprise myself and write what I don't know.”
As well as Write What You Don't Know, Allegra is the author of the bestselling Love Child: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found, the novel A Stolen Summer, How to Edit and Be Edited, and How to Read for an Audience (with James Navé). She wrote and produced the award-winning short film Good Luck, Mr. Gorski, and has also written numerous feature screenplays. Her articles have appeared in many major magazines in the US, UK, and France. An editor for over three decades, she worked with authors including three Booker Prize winners, two Nobel Prize winners, and Jane Goodall.
“Allegra Huston is incapable of writing a dull sentence.”
James Navé
“I came to the Imaginative Storm method from the spoken word tradition. As a founder of the company Poetry Alive!, I memorized over 600 poems and performed them for schoolchildren. (Poetry Alive! has to date reached over 5 million students.) I've competed in the National Poetry Slam and have emceed the LEAF Festival slam for 25 years.
My focus on creativity began when I co-founded The Artist's Way Creativity Camp in partnership with Julia Cameron, author of the perennial bestselling guide to creativity The Artist's Way. The principles and prompts that make up the Imaginative Storm method are the culmination of over 30 years of practice and exploration.”
Navé holds an MFA in Poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts. His latest book of poems, 100 Days: Poems After Cancer, was published by 3: A Taos Press in May 2023. His poetry has appeared in many publications, and he has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered and Weekend Edition.
He hosts a weekly long-form interview podcast, available on YouTube @imaginativestorm, and has served on the advisory team of LEAF Global Arts since 1995.
“James Navé and I worked together for over 20 years. He has a quick, curious, and searching mind, plus a humanist eye for poetic detail. His work as a poet, teacher, and facilitator is an important force for change.”
If you're feeling the urge to write about your life, there's no need to feel overwhelmed by the vastness of your life's journey. Start somewhere—right now, today, with our 90-minute course. When you finish, you'll have already started building a collaged narrative that expresses you and the way you meet and make meaning of your life.
