TRUE STORY:
Write the First Draft of Your Memoir in Twelve Weeks
with Valley Haggard
September 9 – November 25, 2024
Mondays, 4-6 pm ESTon
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Max: 6 participants
Book a free 30-minute discovery call to apply!
Explore the art of transformational memoir in a supportive small group setting.
Do you have to consider yourself a writer? No.
Do you need to know what the end result will look like before you start? No.
Do you need to be confident and sure of your abilities? No.
Do you need to be courageous? Yes.
Do you need to make a 100% commitment to yourself? Yes.
Do you need to trust the process and surrender judgment about your writing? Yes.
Total Cost: $3300
Early Bird special before 7/17: $2900
Payments may be made in increments of
1, 2, or 3.
2/3 of the total cost must be paid before the course begins on 9/9.
Applicants will be selected, not based on skill or experience, but willingness, curiosity, and dedication.
We will:
Spend 3 weeks completing the True Story Workbook, creating our intentions, affirmations, timeline, structure plot points, characters, themes, and prompt lists so that we are fully primed, and ready to dive in.
Spend the next 9-weeks writing our micro-stories and filling in the structure of our manuscript.
Just imagine…
Writing your memoir with an intimate, small group of writers offering each other support, positive feedback, and accountability all along the way.
Weaving together the disparate stories of your life into a meaningful and cohesive whole.
Receiving validation and support for your most vulnerable experiences in a safe and sacred space.
Incorporating practical craft instruction and intuitive guidance into your writing practice.
Finishing a complete first draft of the memoir you’ve always wanted to write in just 3 months.
You give:
6-8 hours of your time each week
100% commitment and dedication to your writing and yourself
You receive:
3 private 1-hour sessions with Valley
9 two-hour small group writing workshops
A welcome package
The True Story workbook PDF
Recordings of Valley’s guided writing meditations
An accountability partnership
Guidance creating a writing ritual
Inspiration from the Sacred Circle Writing Oracle cards
Weekly submissions of your work with feedback from Valley
A completed 100-150 page first draft of your memoir
Information and contacts for moving forward
YOU MIGHT ASK YOURSELF…..
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Your story is simultaneously universal, and completely unique to you. Writing the truth about your life is healing and your healing has a ripple effect on the world. There are already a million love stories, coming of age stories, addiction stories and on and on-but we will never stop writing them. The world craves new art made specifically by you.
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You don’t need discipline if you have structure, deadlines, and accountability. When you make a commitment to yourself while others hold sacred space, the dedication, strength, and commitment needed to follow through appear as if by magic. When you invest time and money in yourself within a structure of accountability, you have fostered the environment in which to realize your wildest dreams.
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As you release control, judgment, and criticism the truth and story will rise to the surface. As you release control, trust the process, and let go of judgment your subconscious will guide you to write the stories that are most vital, vibrant, and close to your heart.
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This is an excellent question, but not one you need to ask just yet. This is a SECOND DRAFT question.
The FIRST DRAFT is for writing the unfiltered truth. FIRST DRAFT writing s raw and real, unedited and uncensored. It is vital that you write your first draft from your right brain, a place of pure creativity. Save your logical left brain reasoning for your second draft when you will make thoughtful decisions, deciding what works best for you.
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This will be up to you! Personal transformation from bringing your book into the world may be enough for you. If you’d like to bring your book to the next level, I will provide you with a packet of resources to include editors, self-publishers, and info about traditional publishing routes.
What makes this memoir writing workshop different from other memoir writing workshops?
+Our sessions are not pre-recorded…they happen in real time.
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+We combine small group writing with one-on-one sessions so you receive the inspiration from the group as well as concentrated time just for you.
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+We highlight writing that’s beautiful, honest, powerful, and true, rather than critiques that tell you what’s wrong with you.
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+We incorporate healing modalities and writing rituals into the process, allowing us to access our sacred knowing and inner wisdom.
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+You will be lovingly and skillfully supported as you transform the painful experiences of your past into art you can share with the world.
Twelve Week Itinerary
(subject to adjustment)
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Meet with Valley to set your intentions, write your mantras and affirmations, as we prepare physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for the journey ahead.
Home Play: Timeline
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Using our timeline from the workbook, we will identify, key plot points, themes, turning points and pivotal experiences as we begin to shape the structure of our memoir.
Home Play: Arcs, Arrows, and Threads
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We will create our characters using archetypes as inspiration.
Home Play: Prompt Lists
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We will generate prompts essential to our theme, creating blueprints for moving forward.
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Free-writing from our prompts in small group setting.
Home Play: Listen to guided meditations and write for 30-60 minutes each week day.
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Private Session with Valley to chart progress, assess direction, and work through any blocks to moving forward.
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Free-writing from our prompts in small group setting.
Home Play: Listen to guided meditations and write for 30-60 minutes each week day.
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Free-writing from our prompts in small group setting.
Home Play: Listen to guided meditations and write for 30-60 minutes each week day.
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Free-writing from our prompts in small group setting.
Home Play: Listen to guided meditations and write for 30-60 minutes each week day.
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Free-writing from our prompts in small group setting.
Home Play: Listen to guided meditations and write for 30-60 minutes each week day.
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Item description
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Meet with Valley to discuss ideas or next steps, including second draft creation, editing, and publishing.
How can I help you?
Since I started teaching, I have borne witness to the transformational journey of hundreds of students, I have helped students publish their books, and I have published 3 books of my own.
When we write within the safety of sacred space and our stories are received with tenderness and compassion, the obstacles in our path slip away. Guided by the wisdom of our right-brain creative subconscious rather than the rigidity of left-brain logic, our stories pour forth, taking on structure and shape in a beautiful and organic way. We mine our lives for memory and experience, gathering the raw ingredients we need to make the full meal.
I am passionate about helping people write their stories, and continuing the ever-evolving journey of writing mine. When we write our memoirs, regardless of the outcome, the process changes us, helping us heal our past so we can arrive more fully in the present and create blueprints for our future.
I would love for you to join me on the adventure ahead.
As an award winning creative writing teacher, 3-book author, and certified spiritual coach, I am uniquely qualified to guide you on your transformational memoir journey.
Once upon a time, I was desperate to write my own story but had no idea how to start and little faith I could get there. I had little self-discipline but a lot of self-criticism, self-judgment, and shame.
The traditional writing workshop critique-based model had left me paralyzed with compare and despair from the patriarchal old-school sense of “how stories should be told.” I was heartbroken about the possibility of losing the art I loved the most.
So, nearly 20 years ago I started teaching the workshops I would want to take. Leading with gentleness, compassion, and strength-based feedback, I allowed craft to take the back-burner while letting the truth led the way. The stories began to spill out.
Is True Story the right fit for you? Book a free 30 minute discovery call with me to find out!
Questions? Email: valley@valleyhaggard.com
What’s it like writing wih Valley?
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Valley has such a gift for creating safe, sacred spaces where students can hear their soul speak through the ritual of writing. Her ability to listen and respond with compassion to the words each individual shares is nothing less than healing and therapeutic.
Kristen
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Valley is absolutely wonderful & her writing groups are amazing!! I will be taking more of these group sessions & anything I possibly can that Valley offers. I highly encourage anyone to join in, you will be very happy you did!
Susan
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A safe loving space with insightful reflection and authentic celebration of the unique writer in all of us!
Erika
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I’ve taken several of Valley's workshops and all of them have been inspiring, motivating and life changing. Valley does an amazing job of creating a space that encourages digging deep and sharing in vulnerability. That’s a gift beyond measure.
Deborah
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Always the best of hours! I am so grateful for the time given and writing shared and the wonder of this, Valley.
Mary Jo