Life Writing
Who we are
Write your life, one memory at a time
What is Life Writing?
The Greeks gave us bios, life, and graphein, to write. Put them together and you get biography, which is literally life writing. The difference is that you don’t need to be famous, dead or terribly important to do it – you just need to have lived, have experiences you want to write about and are ready and willing to scribble.
Life writing is any writing that draws on your own life: a journal entry, a letter you’ll never send, a story about your grandmother’s hands, a personal essay, a poem about the house you grew up in, a memoir. Memoir is one form of it, the one that takes a thread and shapes it into a book. Life writing is often shorter and surprising in what it uncovers.
I have done a lot of life writing, which has shown me a lot about who I am and how I have lived and who I am becoming.
Some of this writing goes into books and some into blogs and some stay private.
What memory has been waiting the longest for you to write it down?
The Life Writing Library
Courses in a book: Each book is the whole course: the teaching, the stories, the exercises and plenty of prompts, ready whenever you are.
Discover the Writer Within
Explore your memories, dreams, and imagination through life writing exercises and create your own Memory Box of stories
Have you always wanted to write, but felt unsure where to start? This creative life writing course invites you on a gentle, inspiring journey to explore your memories, dreams, and imagination-one story at a time.
Portraits of a Life
Explore the people who’ve shaped your story through character sketches, relationship reflections, and meaningful dialogue
Our lives are woven from relationships – some brief encounters, others spanning decades. This course invites you to explore the people who’ve shaped your journey through thoughtful, creative life writing.
Life writing questions
What’s the difference between life writing and memoir? Life writing is any writing drawn from your own life: journals, letters, essays, poems, family stories. Memoir is one form of it, where you follow a single thread and shape it into a book.
Do I need to be a writer to do life writing? No. If you’ve ever told a story about your family over Sunday lunch, you’ve already started. The rest is practice and good prompts.
What should I write about first? Start small and specific: a smell, an object, a room or perhaps a place. Small memories are easier to write, and they often lead you to the bigger stories by themselves.
What if writing brings up painful memories? It can, and that’s ok. Go gently, take breaks, and come back when you’re ready. You decide how close you get, and nobody needs to read it but you.
Can life writing become a book? Sometimes. Many memoirs start as scattered life writing pieces. When a thread keeps showing up, that’s often your book knocking. My Memoir page will help you take the next step.
Discover the Writer Within
Have you always wanted to write, but felt unsure where to start? This creative life writing introduction invites you on a gentle, inspiring journey to explore and experiment one story at a time.
You’ll learn how to capture moments and express your unique voice without pressure or perfectionism. No experience needed-just your heart, your stories, and a willingness to explore.
There are ten invitations available as a mini course, plus a safe community space to share insights in.
Coming Back to the Page
You don't wait until you feel ready to come back [...]
The Courage to Write What Scares You Most
There's a particular kind of terror that only writers know - the ice-cold fear that grips you when you realise the book you're truly meant to write is the one that frightens you most. It's the story that makes you feel slightly queasy as you reach for the keyboard. The truth that sits in your chest like a burning coal, too hot to touch but impossible to ignore. The words that would change everything if you had the courage to write them.
When the Unexpected Happens: Writing Your Way Through
When the unexpected happens, I always – without fail – [...]
