You tell great stories out loud
On paper they flatten into a list of things that happened.
Courses
Start with three things you can do today
How to write a personal essay about yourself
Turn the stories you tell into scenes worth reading.
A course on memoir and the personal essay. It covers finding the question a story is really about, writing scenes instead of summaries, handling memory honestly, choosing what to leave out, and thinking through the ethics of writing about family and friends.
Type this when Cadence asks what you want to learn
I want to write about my own life, maybe a memoir or some personal essays. I have stories I keep telling people, but when I write them down they turn into a list of events, and I worry about the people in them.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
Start today
Four things you can do before the course exists.
Useful on their own. The course is for when you want the whole skill, not just the first move.
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Name the question, not the event
Finish this sentence: 'This is about the time ... and what I still do not understand is ... .' Illustrative example: 'This is about the summer my father lost his job, and what I still do not understand is why nobody told us.' The second half is your real subject.
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Write one scene, not the whole period
Pick a single moment you can see clearly: a room, a time of day, something said. Write 300 words staying inside that moment, with no 'and years later'. Summary can come afterwards.
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Mark what you remember and what you reconstruct
Where you are unsure, say so in the text, with phrases like 'I think it was winter' or 'as I remember it'. Readers tend to trust a narrator who admits the limits of memory more than one who claims perfect recall.
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List the real people before you go further
Write down everyone who appears and what you reveal about them. For anything private about someone else, ask whether the story truly needs it. Writing a first draft for your eyes only lets you find the story before deciding what to share.
- Best for
- Writing
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons, sized to your goal
- Lesson pace
- About 10 minutes a day
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store, with early features and Android testing access
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- Are you thinking of a full memoir, short personal essays, or writing just for yourself?
- Which period of your life or which story keeps coming back to you?
- Who appears in it, and how would you feel about them reading it?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
You want a record for your family
Something your children or grandchildren could read one day.
You worry about the people in it
Writing honestly might hurt someone you care about.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06What your story is about
Separating the events from the question they raise.
Scene and summary
When to slow down into a moment and when to move on quickly.
Memory and truth
Writing honestly when you cannot remember everything exactly.
The narrator you are now
Your past self, your present view and the distance between them.
Writing about real people
Consent, fairness and deciding what to leave out.
Shaping a piece
Personal essay or memoir chapter, and where to start and end.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Find the real subject
Name the question underneath a story, not just its events.
Write in scenes
Use moments, dialogue and detail rather than summary.
Handle memory and people honestly
Mark uncertainty and decide carefully what to share about others.
Ideas this course corrects
A memoir has to start at birth
Most memoirs cover one period, theme or relationship. An autobiography covers a whole life; a memoir chooses.
You need a dramatic life to write about it
What holds a reader is insight and honesty about an experience, not how unusual it was.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
How to write a personal essay about yourself: what can I do today?
Name the question, not the event. Finish this sentence: 'This is about the time ... and what I still do not understand is ... .' Illustrative example: 'This is about the summer my father lost his job, and what I still do not understand is why nobody told us.' The second half is your real subject. Write one scene, not the whole period. Pick a single moment you can see clearly: a room, a time of day, something said. Write 300 words staying inside that moment, with no 'and years later'. Summary can come afterwards. Mark what you remember and what you reconstruct. Where you are unsure, say so in the text, with phrases like 'I think it was winter' or 'as I remember it'. Readers tend to trust a narrator who admits the limits of memory more than one who claims perfect recall. List the real people before you go further. Write down everyone who appears and what you reveal about them. For anything private about someone else, ask whether the story truly needs it. Writing a first draft for your eyes only lets you find the story before deciding what to share.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
A course on memoir and the personal essay. It covers finding the question a story is really about, writing scenes instead of summaries, handling memory honestly, choosing what to leave out, and thinking through the ethics of writing about family and friends. It sits under Writing in the Ideas & discovery part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Courses run 7 to 30 lessons of about 10 minutes, sized to what you asked for. One lesson a day is the intended pace, and you can go faster. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
The sentence to type
I want to write about my own life, maybe a memoir or some personal essays. I have stories I keep telling people, but when I write them down they turn into a list of events, and I worry about the people in them.