Your Life is Full of Stories
Ordinary moments are extraordinary stories waiting to be told
I'm sitting here with my cup of tea watching the way the light catches the steam rising from my cup, and I'm thinking about stories (as always!) Not the dramatic, life-changing moments we think we need to write about, but this moment. Right now. The scrabbling and ticking behind me as a sparrow lands on the gutter and pecks at the window; the conversation I had with the neighbour about her son; the way the sun spotlighted just one small circle of the grey sea on my overcast walk earlier and the northern gannet that fired itself into the sea from the clouds.
These moments are all stories waiting to be developed. They can lead us places. And they're at the heart of something I've been creating…
The Present Tense Course: Writing Your Life as You Live It
This isn't about mining your past for trauma or waiting for something dramatic to happen so you'll have something to write about. This is about discovering that your life, exactly as it is right now, is full of compelling stories that readers want to connect with.
You know how you'll read a life writing post and think, "Yes! That's exactly how I feel," or "I never thought about it that way before"? That's the magic we're going to focus on creating. Not through manufactured drama, but through the art of truly seeing, and feeling, what's already happening around you and inside you.
Why I Wrote This Course
Over the past few years of writing here on The Mindful Writer, my most popular posts and Notes by far have been the ones where I simply share what is happening in my life. Not the big events, but the small observations, the conversations that stuck with me, the tiny shifts in perspective that come from paying attention. My most popular Note ever was about an encounter with an owl on my morning run. The post that generated the most comments was about my nomadic tendencies, the idea for which came about on a walk one morning when my husband and I had just decided that it was time to start looking for somewhere else to live again.
That's when I realised that our ordinary lives are extraordinary when we learn how to look at them with a writer's eye and share them authentically. When we write from the heart about what a moment meant to us, what it helped us to see, or just how it made our day feel different.
But here's what I kept hearing from writers: "My life isn't interesting enough to write about" or "Nothing ever happens to me" or "I don't have any big stories to tell."
What We'll Discover Together
Over six weeks starting September 1st, we're going to transform how you see your daily life. You'll learn to spot the story-worthy moments that are happening all around you — the conversation with the cashier that reveals something about human connection, the way your morning routine changed after a difficult week, the small observations that contain universal truths.
This isn't memoir writing. We're not diving into your past. This is about right now, this moment, this week, this chapter of your life. We're learning to write flash pieces (500-1000 words) that capture the present moment with such authenticity and insight that readers feel like they're living it alongside you.
Week 1: Mining the Everyday for Gold — Because the stories are there, you just need to develop your writer's eye to see them.
Week 2: The Power of Present-Moment Storytelling — Writing from inside experiences as they happen, not reflecting back on them.
Week 3: Finding Meaning (And Being Okay with Not Knowing) — How to balance insight with uncertainty in ways that feel honest and relatable.
Week 4: Structure that Carries Readers Forward — The architecture of flash life writing that keeps people reading.
Week 5: Voice that Connects — Finding that sweet spot between vulnerability and boundaries that creates genuine intimacy with readers.
Week 6: Building Your Writing Community — How to share your work in ways that create meaningful dialogue and lasting connections.
There are also 2 live sessions and replays are provided if you can’t make it live:
Writing from the Inside Out
Sunday 14th September: 15.00-16.30 UK time
This interactive workshop focuses on the core skill of writing from inside experiences as they're happening, rather than reflecting back on them. We'll practice mindful awareness techniques that make present-moment writing so powerful and authentic.
Combining Vulnerability and Boundaries
Sunday 5th October: 15.00-16.30 UK time
We'll explore the delicate art of finding your authentic voice - getting that sweet spot between vulnerability and keeping appropriate boundaries that creates genuine intimacy with readers while navigating the challenges of personal disclosure in your work.
Why Write Your Life?
We live in a world of constant noise and distraction. People are craving authentic connection, real stories, voices and stories that feel genuine rather than performed. When you learn to write about your life with this kind of present-moment awareness, you're offering something precious: permission for others to slow down and notice their own lives more deeply.
This is mindful writing in action. This is how we change the world — not through grand gestures, but through the radical act of paying attention to what's actually happening and sharing it with heart and skill. By writing the stories only we can with compassion and love for being here experiencing it all.
Why Take This Course With Me?
For the past 15 years, I've been helping writers discover their authentic voices, and what I've learned is this: the most powerful writing happens when we combine craft development with mindful awareness of our lives, feelings and thoughts. That's exactly what this course offers.
I don't just teach this approach — I live it. I've been sharing my own life writing here on Substack, writing about everything from my own journey with mindfulness to difficult situation with my family. These pieces have created genuine connections with readers around the world, many of whom have become real friends. My Substack became a bestseller earlier this year, and I regularly hear from readers about how my writing has helped them feel less alone.
This course grows directly from that experience — both from teaching hundreds of writers over the years and from discovering firsthand how present-moment life writing creates the kind of authentic connection we're all craving. When you learn to see your ordinary moments as story-worthy and share them with skill and heart, something magical happens: you don't just become a better writer, you transform your relationship with your own life and make real connections with people.
Exclusive Early Access
Paid subscribers get to book a spot before I open bookings to everyone else. I'm keeping this first group small (just 15 writers) so we can create a real community and support each other's growth. The booking link is at the bottom below the paywall. Bookings open for everyone else on 1st July. You can use the discount code that you received by email and is also saved on the Member Goodies page.
The course starts 1st September with weekly lessons, exercises, and community engagement. Everything is designed to work with your real life — no overwhelming daily writing requirements or unrealistic time commitments.
A Question For You
What would change if you truly believed that your ordinary life contains extraordinary stories? If you trusted that the way you see and experience the world matters enough to share?
I believe that everyone's stories matter. Because I've seen how powerful it is when writers learn to trust their own observations and experiences. Because I’ve seen how powerful it is since I learned to trust my own. Because in a world that feels divided, these intimate, authentic stories create the connections we all desperately need.
Your life, exactly as it is, contains stories that only you can tell. Stories that will make readers feel more understood, more connected, more awake to their own lives. This course will teach you how to find them and share them with the skill and heart they deserve.
Here's to discovering the stories already present in your life.
With love
P.S. If you know another writer who struggles with the "my life isn't interesting enough" myth, please share this with them. Sometimes we need someone else to remind us that our ordinary moments are worthy of attention and beautiful words.