Writing the Heart

Struggling to write a nonfiction book or memor? In this video, writing teacher Brad Wetzler discusses his VAST Method of Narrative Writing. It will help you make progress, finish, and publish your book.

I found this B&W print today while unpacking from my recent move. I was 30 years old, flying out the next day for Greenland and my first overseas adventure-writing assignment for a major magazine. I reported the article and then found myself camped out for three weeks on a beach socked in by...

How I Coached Jon Krakauer to Write the Story that Only He Could Tell

Last week, I posted Part I of the story of my involvement with "Into Thin Air." That post told the behind-the-scenes story of the days during and immediately after the storm that killed climbers during the 1996 season....

Sending Jon Krakauer to Everest was my idea. After the news broke, I spent the better part of a day wondering if I’d put him in a frozen grave.

IT WAS THE WORST STORY IDEA idea an editor could come up with, let alone assign to a real human being. That’s how I felt on Saturday, May 11,...

I want to tell you about a book that, each time I open it, makes me a better writer. You probably haven’t heard of it, or of the author, Ted Solotaroff. It’s not a best-seller like Bird by Bird or a popular favorite like Stephen King’s On Writing. In fact,...

When I used to travel a lot as a magazine writer, I tried to work fast so that I could explore more of the countries I visited. I gravitated toward holy sites. Temples, churches, ashrams, ancient ruins, active charnel grounds. I wasn’t a believer, so I wasn’t even sure what...

Working in memoir requires a writer to stand in the fire of truth. This means holding ourselves accountable to seeing what’s true about our lives. Part of my process as a book writing coach is to point clients to ways they can write with a more open heart. Writing well about our...

Tell Your Origin Story:

Barry Lopez: The world is held together with stories and compassion.

We all have an origin story (a term from comic books). They need to understand how they got their superpowers. These superheroes had problems like humans and responded like humans. Over time it became...

In this 20-minute nonfiction and memoir writing class, writing teacher and book writing coach Brad Wetzler discusses the wisdom of story and the ten habits of successful writers.

Here are some topics discussed in this video:

1. Earning the Tell: In both nonfiction and memoir writing, a writer can...

In this 30-minute writing lesson, writing teacher and book writing coach Brad Wetzler discusses various techniques writers can use to turn our complex human personalities into coherent characters that the reader can make sense of and follow through the course of a story.  

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In this 30-minute writing tutorial, writing teacher and book writing coach Brad Wetzler discusses the difference between showing and telling in narrative writing and how to write in a more embodied way. 

Here are a few of the concepts Brad Wetzler addresses: 

1. What is...