4 Autobiographical Writing Courses Great For Beginners in 2025

Master the art of turning real-life events into compelling narratives with these courses led by writing experts

Do you have an untold real-life story that you would love to explore as a memoir or novel? They say that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and for these expert teachers, life-writing is their chosen method to share impactful stories with their readers.

Autobiographical writing shares many key elements with fiction writing, but you also need to factor in skills like interviewing, balancing reality with story structure, and managing emotions while writing about personal and maybe difficult topics. Check out the four online life-writing courses below to start sharing your own story.

1. Life-writing for beginners: tell your story, a course by Tom Bromley

For author and editor Tom Bromley (@tom.bromley), it’s like portraiture: trying to depict someone as they truly are—a complete picture, but with words rather than colors.

In this course on life-writing for beginners, Tom takes you through the fundamentals from research and drafting to the final edit, for stories of your own or about other people. Learn how to trigger key memories with techniques like listening to music, and handle writing intense emotions without becoming overwhelmed.

2. Introduction to autobiographical writing, a course by César Tejeda

Storyteller, editor, and scriptwriter César Tejeda (@cesartejedaa) has extensive experience both writing and editing novels and memoirs, and here teaches you how to combine narrative techniques with your memory to tell stories that can only be found in your mind.

His 101 course on autobiographical writing goes from theory to mastering storytelling across the passage of time. If you’re used to writing shorter pieces, learn how to take that step to working on novel-length projects.

3. Memoir writing: write a personal story for a universal audience, a course by Courtney Maum

There’s no right way to tell a story but author and book coach Courtney Maum (@cmaum) believes there is a right way to structure one. She uses stories to learn about the world, and has published several with major publishing houses like Penguin Random House and The New York Times.

In this memoir writing course, she guides you through creating a compelling personal story using a three-act structure and a double timeline. Learn how to use them as a foundation to write about real people and real stories in a way that captures the reader’s attention from the first page.

4. Nonfiction writing: tell your unique story, a course by Eileen Truax

Nonfiction writing is a powerful communication tool, capable of transporting the reader to a vivid scene through the combination of storytelling techniques and hard facts. Journalist and writer Eileen Truax (@eileentruax) believes we all have a unique story inside of us, that only we can tell with authenticity. Eileen is a published author whose work can be found in media outlets such as The New York Times, Vice, The Washington Post, and more.

In her nonfiction writing course, delve into Eileen’s writing process and see how she determines whether or not a story is worth writing. Then, see how she approaches the blank page with tips to get started, and go from first draft to pitching to editors.

Transform history into stories with these bonus resources

1. Get inspired by these 10 powerful examples of iconic life-writing.

2. Listen to our podcast episode about memoir writing and explore this medium further.

3. Try these two practice exercises to overcome creative block and start writing!