Open Book with Narratively Academy

This was such a fun one! It was so inspiring to hear Laurie Garnier’s story of how, at age 40, she decided to change everything in pursuit of a better life—and how, at age 75, she finally wrote that life story and got it published.

The book is And Then There Was Paris and for those who didn’t have the chance to join us live, we’re making the recording free for everyone. Here’s to always chasing your dreams.

Happy weekend!

Hello, writers! Hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing long weekend—or at least a not-so-miserable Monday if you weren’t lucky enough to have yesterday off. On Thursday we had a fantastic conversation with Amy Gabrielle, author of the just-published memoir Widow in the City: A Memoir of Heartbreaks and Hookups.

We recently published an adapted excerpt of Amy’s memoir over on Narratively.com, and we wanted to chat with Amy to learn more about how she finished and published her book. Her memoir comes via She Writes Press, an award-winning hybrid publisher for women authors. Many of you have questions about how this model works, and Amy was kind enough to open up and chat about everything.

This week’s Open Book was one of my favorite yet. The great Lee Gutkind keeps reeling in fascinating guests, and the latest is veteran New York Times obituary writer Michael Roswenwald, who told us all about the craft of obituary writing—how he decides what to include, what to leave out, and how this work shapes the way we think about narrative, memory, and meaning.

Paid subscribers can watch the full conversation above.

(Not a subscriber and want to try it out? Drop us a line at [email protected] and we’ll give you a free week’s access so you can watch this and our entire archive of Open Book videos.)

Watch more Open Book episodes from Lee Gutkind and Narratively Academy:

* Jane Friedman on Finding Balance in the Writing Business

* Kim Cross on How to Write Great Dialogue in Nonfiction Stories

* Dinty W. Moore on What the Heck is a Flash Essay?

And if you’re new to Narratively Academy—or if you’re not!—a quick reminder that tomorrow is Writers’ Room, a virtual session we facilitate each Wednesday morning — at 8 a.m. on both the East and West coasts — in which writers of all genres gather to write together. We share what we plan to work on at the top, spend a majority of the time typing away and then check back in at the end to share how it all went. If you’re looking for accountability, inspiration or some semblance of a writing routine, this might be just the thing for you.

(If you are asked for a passcode, enter: 824784)

Want to receive text message alerts each week when we’re about to begin Writers’ Room, or add this weekly event to your calendar?

8 a.m. ET Writers’ Room: head here to (very easily) sign up for text alerts, and here to add the 8 a.m. ET Writers’ Room to your calendar.

8 a.m. PT Writers’ Room: head here to sign up for text alerts and here to add the 8 a.m. PT Writers’ Room to your cal.

Everyone likes to fancy themselves a freelance writer, but the reality of it can be kind of intimidating. Can you actually earn real money, where do you even begin, and once you do, how do you keep track of all your projects? We had a lot of questions. Lucky for us (and you!), one of our favorite successful freelancers, Amelia Edelman — whose work has appeared on/in The New York Times’ T Brand Studio, NPR, Travel + Leisure, Lonely Planet, Parents, and Gloria — agreed to join us for an Open Book chat so we could pick her brain about all of it. We learned about the importance of anchor clients and tapping your network, how to keep track of your finances and save for taxes (the fun part!) and how to get to work on things you want to work on. It was truly a delight of a conversation in which we learned so much. Click play above to watch the whole thing!

P.S. Just a reminder that all of our live videos are free, and the recorded versions of them are available to all paying members. Learn how to become one below!

Any writer knows that if you plan to work on a book — even if you’re just thinking about it — at some point the matter of whether to get an agent or not (or at least to try!) will come up. Some writers forego the whole agent-querying process altogether. With that in mind, we spoke to authors Bonnie Chau and Kristi D. Osorio about their experiences doing just that.

As many of you know, Jane Friedman is a leading voice in the publishing industry. Her newsletter, The Bottom Line, provides nuanced, transparent market intelligence to thousands of authors. This week, Lee Gutkind chatted with Jane about the state of the publishing industry and how writers can find the right balance of focusing on writing and focusing on business. Jane also answered your questions bout book proposals, building a platform and more. Click play above to watch the full thing.

Want more expert writing advice and guidance? Don’t miss our upcoming Narratively Academy classes!

Memoir With Magical Realism: Starts Feb. 24

31 Days, 31 Revision Prompts: Starts March 1

Verifying Family Lore: March 12

The Power of Visual Language: March 19

Launching a Book Without a Big PR Budget: March 28

Speculative Nonfiction Workshop: Starts April 7

Want to be the first to know about new live videos and class announcements—plus get 20% off every class you join? Sign up as a paid member of Narratively Academy

Thanks to everyone who joined us for yesterday’s live interview with Jasper “Jaz” Joyner about magical realism and memoir. If you weren’t able to join, just click play above to watch the full interview.

And if you’re ready to dive into this world, don’t miss Jaz’s upcoming class, How to Write a Memoir with Magical Realism, an intensive six-week workshop in which students will learn how to shape an effective (and true!) memoir using fantastical elements borrowed from this beloved genre.

Get full access to everything we publish at Narratively Academy—plus 20% of all classes—by becoming a paid member.

In this week’s episode of “Open Book” author Rafael Frumkin tells us why they decided to write an autobiographical novel instead of a memoir—and explains how nonfiction writers can get started with turning their true experiences into fiction.

If you didn’t get the chance to join us live, just click play above to watch the whole thing, or listen in your favorite podcast player. We’re making this episode free to all.

And if you’re ready to make the leap into fiction yourself, don’t miss Rafael’s class—From Essays to Novels: Fiction Writing for the Nonfiction Writer—which kicks off this coming Thursday, February 19.

Subscribe to Narratively Academy to make sure you never miss an episode of Open Book.

I’m still pinching myself that I got to chat with the brilliant Nicole Graev Lipson yet again, this time for our Open Book series about one of my favorite topics, the essay collection, or more specifically, the memoir-in-essays. Nicole wrote one of my favorites, Mothers and Other Fictional Characters, which was published last year. As promised, Nicole was a true open book about her experience, sharing how she started getting back to writing after having children, at what point she realized she might want to expand her standalone pieces into a collection, when she decided to look for an agent, what went into her book proposal and so.much.more. If you haven’t read her memoir-in-essays yet, I can’t recommend it enough — please buy a copy today. And if you’ve ever thought about penning an essay collection yourself, you won’t want to miss our recorded chat, which is available to all paying members. (See how to become one below if you aren’t already.) Enjoy!

We love seeing writers expand their Narratively articles into published books! In this week’s episode of our Open Book video/podcast series, Ethelene Whitmire shares how she leveraged her article, The Gay Black American Who Stared Down Nazis in the Name of Love, to land a significant book deal with a major publisher. Paid members can watch the full video above. Be sure to order a copy of Ethelene’s The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram, set to be published by Penguin Random House next week.