live VIRTUAL Workshop
Entering the Story
A daylong immersive memoir workshop
During Writing the Deeper Story, you explored what it means to move beyond surface narrative — to uncover the emotional undercurrents, the hidden architecture, and the deeper truth beneath your lived experience.
This daylong immersive workshop is designed to help you access your story. Rather than talking about deepening, we will write into it.
This is where the story underneath the story begins to emerge.
Entering the Story
Write to discover what you know
Saturday, July 25, 2026
9am-2pm PT | 12-5pm ET
Live on Zoom
Replay available for registered participants
$200
The Experience
In this one-day immersive workshop, you will explore the raw material of your life — the fragmented, disjointed memories and life-changing events — and begin shaping them into story.
It is an intimate journey that invites you to meet yourself on the page.
We will move through a sequence of guided prompts and craft insights, each building upon one another, allowing you to enter more fully into a moment and see what reveals itself when you follow the thread of your curiosity.
Although we are gathering virtually, you will not be writing alone. You will be working in the presence of others engaged in the same act of attention and discovery — each person entering their own story.
You will practice:
- Tracing the emotional journey inside a specific moment
- Choosing point-of-view with attention and awareness
- Using image to unlock memory and scene
- Rendering the people in your life as dimensional characters
- Wrestling with the question of truth in memoir
- Navigating issues of privacy and ethics in concrete, personal ways
- Peeling back layers to uncover what the story is really about
- Writing with care for yourself when the writing feels vulnerable
Memoir has often been called the novel of the 21st century — a form still evolving. When we write our lived experience, we begin to make sense of it. We discover what holds weight and what lingers.
This workshop offers dedicated time to do that work.
For Those Looking for Feedback
In addition to the workshop, I am offering 20 private editorial feedback sessions for writers who would like more individualized engagement.
You may submit up to 5,000 words, generated during the workshop or drawn from an existing draft. I will read your work in advance, and we will meet for a 45-minute one-on-one session to discuss:
Emotional truth
Story architecture
Character and point of view
Where the writing feels most alive
Where it may want to deepen
This offering is best suited for those actively developing a larger body of work and seeking substantive, craft-focused feedback. These sessions are offered exclusively in connection with this workshop and are not typically available on their own.
Investment: $450
Limited to 20 writers.
What people are saying…
“Karin creates a fertile environment for writing. I came to the workshop knowing that I had a story to tell, but with a lot of resistance to the act of writing. Karin guides writers gently and intuitively. She uses writing prompts to help you pop open ideas you didn’t know were there. It was so exciting when my writing really started to flow!
— Ranjani Brow“Having a safe writing space was critical in my development as a writer. The structure, prompts, and valuable guidance made me feel more at ease as I developed my writing skills. You helped me find my voice.”
— Wendy Adamson“You are able to reach through the weeds of a cobbled-together story and pinpoint the true intention of the writer. The questions you pose demand that she pull from her own experience and expression. You promote an atmosphere of respect… there’s no judging.”
— Meredith BaxterABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:
KARIN GUTMAN, MFA, is a memoir and story coach who has been guiding writers for over 20 years towards discovering and writing their life-based stories. The safe, dynamic spaces she creates allow for this deeply personal work to unfold, as writers peel away the layers, dig deep, and make meaning out of their life experiences. Her clients have sold books to major publishers, including HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan.
FAQs
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This workshop is for anyone interested in writing about their personal, life-based experiences and engaging more deeply with the craft of memoir.
It welcomes those new to the genre who are looking for a supportive space in which to explore, as well as more experienced writers of personal narrative seeking an immersive opportunity to reconnect with the page or deepen into the heart of their story.
You may be writing for yourself, as a legacy for your family, or with an eye toward sharing your story more widely.
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No. Memoir is the great leveler. We all arrive with lived experience — that is the raw material. Our shared intention is to uncover the underlying truth within it. What matters most is your willingness to explore with curiosity.
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No. Sharing is always optional. Much of our engagement will happen in the chat, and verbal sharing is never required.
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While live attendance is encouraged, a replay will be available to all registered participants.
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No preparation is necessary. Simply arrive with a pen and journal (or computer) and an openness to what may surface.
Entering the Story
Saturday, July 25
Workshop: $200
Feedback Add-on: $450