Writing Lived Experience with Christie Watson

Do you want to write your story? Memoirs have become an increasingly popular in the last decade, and although wildly different in form and perspective, they are all primarily concerned with lived experience. Everyone has a unique and individual story to tell. Perhaps you have experience of illness or disability or want to write about your work as a student nurse? Maybe the story you feel compelled to write is of childhood, love, travel. So, how do you approach writing your own lived experience?

In this workshop for younger writers (aged 18-30) Christie Watson will guide you through some creative exercises to find your own voice as a writer. Whether you are taking your first steps in writing or are a healthcare professional with a list of publications, or you are completely new to creative writing, Christie will walk you through the approaches she has used writing her memoirs. Using examples from her own and others work; she will lead you through exercises including:

• How to characterise yourself in memoir (hint - it’s tricky!)
• Writing truth: ethical considerations for memoirists
• Structure - the architecture of memoir
• How to write a non-fiction proposal in order to attract an agent

This workshop will help you build deeper levels of understanding of your own project and the genre, as well as the publishing landscape. It will give you a toolbox of ideas and inspiration in order to get to the beating heart of what it is you are writing, and why your story is important.

Christie Watson

Christie Watson is a best-selling, award winning writer and Professor of Creative Writing at UEA. She has published eight books: four novels, including her first novel Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, which won the Costa First Novel Award, and four works of non-fiction, including nursing memoir, The Language of Kindness which was a number one Sunday Times bestseller and spent five months in the Top Ten Bestseller list. Christie is a contributor to the Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Observer, Telegraph and TEDx. Her writing has been translated into twenty-three languages, adapted for theatre. Killing Me Softly, her latest novel, will be released March 2026.

This event is open to all and takes place in person only. For more information about what to expect when attending an event, take a look at this guide.

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Host or Publisher Royal College of Nursing Library & Archives