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Do you dream of writing your story?
Have you begun?
Are you still thinking about it?
Your story of survival is important!
Don’t put off what your heart is telling you to do today.


Dissociative Writers (DW) are people just like you and me – men, women, and non-binary people who write about their experiences of living with a dissociative disorder – poetry, memoir, fiction, non-fiction, dramatic scripts, whatever our chosen medium may be. We gather in virtual writers’ workshops and in memoir classes to explore our creative depths through writing. We write at home, at work, in journals, on computers. We welcome our parts, young and old, to participate.

To read works published by subscribers to Dissociative Writers, click on the button below.

The mission of Dissociative Writers, Inc. is to provide a safe group to support one another in our writing as people with dissociative disorders and to encourage the creativity that helped us survive to tell our stories. 

Weekly Writers’ Workshops

Mondays at 12 noon Eastern US Time

Tuesdays at 1:00 pm Eastern US Time

Wednesdays at 8:00 pm Eastern US Time

Writers Workshops are open to people with dissociative disorders who wish to share their writing with others for feedback and affirmation. Our workshops welcome folks at all stages of writing – beginners to experienced – and in many genres – from journaling, essays, poetry, memoir, to fiction. You will find a supportive community at Dissociative Writers Workshops!

Workshops are currently scheduled every Tuesday at 1 pm Eastern US Time (12 pm Central, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific Time) in two different formats on alternate weeks: draft & discuss where writers sign up ahead of time to share their writing for feedback, and writing-in-place where writers come without pre-written pieces and write in the workshop in response to a prompt.

We also offer an evening writing-in-place workshop on Wednesdays at 8 pm Eastern (7 pm Central, 6 pm Mountain, 5 pm Pacific Time).

Focused writing group meets weekly on Mondays at 12 noon Eastern. This is a time for subscribers to bring their own writing projects to the table and write for 60-90 minutes with brief check-ins. There is no feedback given at Focused Writing, just a time to write with peers.

To participate in writers workshops, please click on the Subscribe! button below.

Dissociative Writers offers writers support in …

  • Writing

  • Blogging

  • Collective Writing (Anthologies)

  • Speaking Experience at Conferences

  • Promoting Personal Published Work

DW Writes On!

Thanks to YOUR help, Dissociative Writers is now a nonprofit registered in the state of New Mexico with 501(c)3 status with the Internal Revenue Service.

We are grateful for your support!

To contact us directly about our writers groups, please click here.

“The DID writers workshop turned out to be much more than we imagined. We were nervous about sharing our work. Everyone was supportive. We get to choose what type of comments we want to hear. We learn about writing from what others write and we also find affirmation / support / information about life as DID people.” ~ Jill & Co.

2024 Beginners Memoir 101 Class

6-Week Class for Dissociative Writers
October 7, 14, 21 and November 4, 11, 18, 2024
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

This is a beginners class is for people who want to write their story in memoir form. Maya Angelou, who wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, said, “There’s no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” If you have a story inside you and are ready to take your writing to the next level, this class is for you.

We will meet virtually for two-hours a week for six weeks. The first hour of each class will focus on elements of memoir writing, including: structure and theme, starting and ending points, tone and voice, narrative arc, character development, dialogue, truth in memoir, and emotional and practical exposure. The second hour will allow several participants to share their writing and receive support and feedback from the rest of the group. After each class, I will email articles and exercises for participants to use to enrich their understanding of the memoir process in preparation for the next class.

By the end of the class, you will know how to tackle your memoir at whatever stage it is in now, and you will have taken many steps toward beginning this project. You will also have a variety of resources available to you refer to as you move forward on this journey which is both wonderful and difficult.

Memoir by Nives Palmic / Art Majeur

Memoir by Nives Palmic / Art Majeur

The class will have a minimum of four students and a maximum of eight, allowing for each participant to share their writing for feedback two times over the six-week period. Each participant is encouraged to talk with their therapist prior to registering to make sure they are ready to tackle the hard but fulfilling work of writing memoir.

October 7, 14, 21 and November 4,11, 18, 2024
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET
Cost $205. Dissociative Writers subscribers receive a 20% discount, or $164.

Two-Step Registration begins in January 2024:

  1. Fill in the Memoir Registration by clicking on the underlined link.

  2. Pay by PayPal in the registration area.

    THIS CLASS IS CLOSED FOR 2024. CHECK BACK IN JANUARY 2025 FOR NEXT YEAR’S CLASS.


    Or, for a free 15-minute phone or zoom conversation with Lyn, please request that in the Contact Form.

“This workshop creates a space for writing. My fellow writers will not be afraid of me, or afraid of breaking me, because they understand me and they understand trauma.” ~ D.C.

Download FREE ebook:

Creative Healing: Prose, Poetry, & Artwork by Dissociative Writers, Volume 3

 

“Being able to express my trauma/dissociation through different modes of writing is challenging but having the group support is reassuring for my more mature parts.” ~ Carrie

Lyn’s Blog

My name is Lyn Barrett and I’m a dissociative writer like you. (To see my bio, click here.) Please read my memoir, Crazy: Reclaiming Life from the Shadow of Traumatic Memory, available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and good bookstores everywhere. If you read Crazy and like it, I’d be pleased if you’d leave a review on the site where you bought it. Together, we can erase stigma and educate the world with authentic stories of people with DID.