THE THROUGH LINE

A 3-Day Memoir Intensive

October 8 - 11 2026

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  • This course is led by me, Jeannine Ouellette (The Part That Burns, Split/Lip Press, 2021). I author the cult-favorite, bestselling Substack, Writing in the Dark, which many—including Sarah Fay of Writers at Work—say is better than an MFA (that being said, I do hold an MFA in fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts). In addition to Writing in the Dark, I teach writing at the University of Minnesota, and through the Association of Writers & Writing Programs' Writer-to-Writer Program, the Minnesota Prison Writers Workshop, and Brooke Warner's Magic of Memoir series. In addition to The Part That Burns, which earned stars from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus—the latter of which also selected it as a best indie book of 2021—I have authored several other nonfiction books as well as the children's book Mama Moon, and my forthcoming craft book, One Word at a Time: A Creative Practice to Transform Your Writing and Your Life. My essays, fiction, and a smattering of poetry have appeared widely in journals and anthologies and won many awards (always second place, runner-up, finalist, or honorable mention—proving that it's okay not to come first). Perhaps most importantly, I'm a passionate, experienced teacher. You can read my full bio here.

  • In addition to hundreds of published and anthologized essays/stories/poems and several books that have been born in Writing in the Dark workshops and intensives, we hear that Writing in the Dark is “a lifeline,” “life changing,” “just what was needed,” and “amazing.” Several writers said they were finally writing again after months of being stuck. One writer said the workshop has been “devastating in all the best ways.” Another wrote to say, “This class teaches you how to dig deep and activate your voice. How to write about things that matter to you, and in turn to your readers.” Read more love letters here.

  • Tuition for The Through Line is $1,950, nonrefundable. I provide drinks and appetizers on Thursday evening and coffee, tea, and snacks throughout. Writers bring their own lunches on Friday and Saturday.

  • The Through Line is Minneapolis-based, held in the comfortable, light-filled Writing in the Dark homestead—that's my home, just blocks from the University of Minnesota campus.

    • Thursday evening, 6–9 PM: Orientation & The Aboutness Session

    • Friday, 9 AM–5 PM: The Map (Structure)

    • Saturday, 9 AM–5 PM: The Room (Scene)

    • Sunday morning, 9 AM–12 PM: Revision Maps & Closing

    Note: Friday and Saturday will include iterative discussion of each memoirist’s pages, approximately 40 minutes per writer.

    There are a great many hotels nearby, some within easy walking distance, all within an easy drive or light rail ride (the workshop is a block away from the light rail), as well as many Airbnb options. Let me know if you want further help with recommendations.

Join an award-winning writer and a small group of creatively invested and thoughtful writers to focus avidly on your work-in-progress—on seeing it again, seeing it anew, seeing the outlines of its absolute most shimmering version of itself with the clearest possible through line!

This small (10 writers maximum) in-person workshop is for writers who have or will have a memoir manuscript in progress and are ready to apply Writing in the Dark’s signature methods of deep attention, deep curiosity, and active search for opportunity and possibility in the work.

Most memoir drafts suffer from the same invisible problem: the writer knows what happened, but hasn't yet discovered exactly why it matters and what it really means.

There comes a moment in nearly every memoir draft (or ideation phase) when the writer knows, deep down, that something isn't quite clear, isn’’t quite working, isn’’t quite clicking. When this moment arrives, the answer isn't more writing. The answer is more seeing.

The Through Line is a three-day intensive for memoirists ready to look at their manuscript with new eyes: to find what the book is actually about, to feel where its spine wants to be, and to understand how every scene either earns its place or quietly undermines the whole.

This is not about fixing. It is about finding. Once you find the through line—the animating question, the thematic spine that runs from the first page to the last, the central question your memoir asks and answers--you will know exactly what your memoir needs.

The through line is not your subject. It is not what happened. It is the invisible thread that makes a reader need to keep turning pages—the reason this particular life, told in this particular way, becomes literature.

What We'll Do

Over three days and one morning, we will work together in a small group—ten writers maximum — to examine each manuscript through three specific lenses:

  • Aboutness — What is this book truly about? Not what it's about on the surface, but the deeper question it is asking and the particular way it asks it.

  • Architecture — Where is the spine of the memoir? What is the opening gesture and the closing one? What belongs, and what, now that you know what the book is about, quietly doesn't?

  • Scene — How does each scene earn its place? And what does a scene need to do in memoir beyond “this happened,” and how do the best scenes in your draft already know something you might not yet?

 As we discuss each manuscript, I will teach with examples from published memoir, and writers will discover, as they always do, that the cumulative effect of studying everyone's work together leads to insights simply not possible any other way. 

The Revision Map

Every writer leaves The Through Line with something concrete: a personalized Revision Map — a short written document from me that names the through line as I've come to understand it, recommends at least one significant structural move, and identifies specific scene-level strategies, both for identifying crucial scenes and expendable ones, and for maximizing opportunities for improvement based on the writer’s unique style and tendencies on the page. This is not a list of line edits. It is a strategy—something you can pin above your desk and return to for months.

Who Should Come

This intensive is for writers who a start on a memoir draft—or a well formed idea for one — and are ready to try to see it more clearly. You don't need to be finished. You definitely don't need a polished draft. You just need to be able to articulate your idea well enough to draft some pages, and a willingness to look at those pages with radical honesty and deep curiosity.

Beginning writers are welcome. However, seasoned writers will also find themselves challenged, because the methods of Writing in the Dark work equally well across experience levels, because they are rooted as much in attention as technique.

How to Apply

If you have studied with me before in an interactive Writing in the Dark class, retreat, or workshop:

You do not need to apply, since I already know you and your work. Simply fill out the form here, which will prompt you to send a brief (500 words max) description of your project and any questions. I’ll answer your questions upon reply, and if you decide to enroll, I'll send you a registration link and everything you need to prepare.

If you have not studied with me before in an interactive class:

I ask for the following—not to evaluate your writing quality, but to make sure your project is a good fit for this particular intensive:

  • A short writing sample (max 1000 words) from your memoir manuscript AND/OR

  • A brief description of your project (no more than 500 words): what it's about, where you are in the drafting process, and what you most hope to figure out or break open

  • A sentence or two about why The Through Line feels right for you at this stage of your work

Again, beginning writers are welcome to apply. I am not looking for polish. I am looking for genuine engagement with the work and a willingness to show up with an open mind and with respect for all of the writers in the room and for the mystery of the artistic process.

Workshop Requirements for Accepted Writers

Once accepted, you will be asked to submit an excerpt of your memoir for the group to read in advance. We will not traditionally “workshop,” but we will discuss everyone’s projects.

Here’s what I’ll be guiding you in advance to prepare:

–        10 double-spaced in standard format (12-point font, one-inch margins) — or up to 3,000 words maximum — from anywhere in your manuscript. Choose the pages that feel most alive to you, or the pages that trouble you most. Or write new scenes just for this workshop. Whatever feels right to you.

–        A brief but clear synopsis or description of your project (no more than 1000 words) — that addresses where the memoir begins and ends (the main narrative time frame), what exactly happens in the memoir (the main events), and what you think it is really about. I can help you with this once you are accepted, so, do not let it intimidate you. Just do your best to answer the above questions.

–        A Scene List – this is a list of key scenes that are in your memoir or that you think would belong to your memoir, in the order in which you think those scenes will appear, with a 2-3 sentence description of what happens in each scene

–        A clear Through Line statement of aboutness—this is your best current attempt at your through line. This will be your first piece of homework, and it will be deliberately imperfect. I will provide at least two frameworks for you to play with in creating this statement, and we will use these statements on Thursday evening as our opening material.

WITD does not discriminate against anyone, regardless of age, color of skin, national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender expression and identity, sexual orientation, or anything else. We expect the same from our all of our participants.