How Everyday Objects Lead Us to the Stories Only We Can Tell
That Old Report Card, Hair Dye & Shovel Opening Earth A Memoir, Micro-Memoir and Storytelling Workshop (two workshops in one!) Where do our deepest stories begin? Not with the dramatic moments we think define us, but with reading an old high school report card. The choice of hair dye. The smell of your grandmother's steamed cauliflower. A word you couldn’t spell in fourth grade. The sound of a shovel opening earth. The ordinary objects and moments we move past every day quietly hold the story juice that have shaped us and genuinely matter. In this immersive micro-memoir and storytelling workshop, we'll learn and practice following what catches our attention—everyday objects, recurring images, unexpected memories, obsessions, questions, and sensory details—and discover how they become pearls we can string together for our most meaningful stories. Micro-memoir is an invitation to write in brevity and essense in order to discover something large. Like flash nonfiction, each piece captures an entire emotional world in a single moment, scene, image, object, conversation, or list. Individually, these brief pieces shine on their own. Strung together, they begin to reveal the deeper architecture of a life, offering the chapters of a memoir. Throughout our time together, you'll write a series of original micro-memoirs while learning how ordinary moments become extraordinary stories. We'll explore how to write with compression, emotional honesty, specificity, and surprise, discovering that the smallest details often carry the greatest emotional weight. Together we'll explore: Finding stories hidden in ordinary objects and everyday moments Using triggers, recurring images, and obsessions to uncover memoir Writing vivid, cinematic micro-memoirs rich with sensory detail Story structure and the fifteen story beats Creating emotional suspense and narrative tension in compressed form Revision techniques that deepen clarity, resonance, and emotional impact Discovering the thematic thread that connects individual pieces into a larger memoir Reading your work aloud with confidence and presence The workshop includes daily writing, readings, craft talks, revision, individual conferences, optional sharing, and generous feedback within a supportive creative community. Writing may begin in solitude, but it flourishes in community. Together we'll create a joyful, brave, and generous space where curiosity leads the way, creative risks are celebrated, and every writer discovers that the stories they long to tell have been quietly waiting for them all along—in an old sponge, a box of hair dye, and the beautiful ordinary moments of everyday life. What You'll Gain By the end of this workshop, you will: Write a collection of original micro-memoirs inspired by the ordinary moments, objects, and memories of your own life. Learn how to find stories everywhere—not by searching for dramatic events, but by noticing what quietly calls for your attention. Discover how everyday objects—a worn sponge, a favorite coffee mug, a pair of gardening gloves, a box of hair dye—can become portals into rich, emotionally resonant memoir. Transform fleeting memories into vivid, cinematic scenes using sensory detail, emotional honesty, and specificity. Understand the architecture of compelling memoir through story structure, narrative tension, and the fifteen story beats. Develop confidence writing with brevity, allowing small moments to carry profound emotional weight. Learn revision techniques that deepen clarity, compression, and resonance without losing the heart of your story. Identify the recurring themes, images, and questions that connect individual micro-memoirs into a larger body of work—or even the beginnings of a full memoir. Read your work aloud with greater confidence and presence. Receive thoughtful, encouraging feedback in a supportive community of fellow writers. Leave with a practical process for generating stories whenever and wherever life offers them. Most importantly, you'll leave with a new way of moving through the world. You'll begin to trust that story isn't something you have to invent or chase. It's already waiting for you—in ordinary conversations, forgotten objects, family rituals, gardens, kitchens, sidewalks, and quiet moments of daily life. You'll learn to notice what you've been overlooking and discover that the smallest moments often hold the greatest truths. Workshop Schedule: Sunday Night: Welcome Meet and Greet at 6:00pm Monday – Thursday: 9am – 4pm Friday: 9am - 2pm *Subject to change*