Fire Starters: Group Memoir Writing Program (Live Online)
You've lived through something extraordinary. Your story deserves to be told. Do it here.
Six months of craft, community, and coaching built for writers like you.
(Even if you don't think of yourself as a writer yet.)
Fire Starters is a six-month memoir writing program built for breast cancer survivors and thrivers who are ready to tell the story of their lived experience. From October to March, you'll immerse yourself in the writer life you've been dreaming about, with the structure, coaching, and community to finally make it happen.
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100% of surveyed Fire Starters alumni say the program helped them reach their writing goals — and that memoir writing is a healing tool they'll carry forward for life.
This program was exactly what I needed to feel that I can call myself a writer.
— Jess, Fire Starters Student 2025
Who is it for?
All stages of breast cancer welcome.
Participants may be any age now, but were diagnosed under 50. (If you were older at your diagnosis, Wildfire resonates with you, and you feel Fire Starters would be a good fit for you, reach out for a consultation.)
Ideally, you have attended a Wildfire “Sparks” Writing Workshop six-week series in the past or are currently enrolled, but not required.
How does it work?
Starting Saturday, October 3, 2026 and running through March 27, 2027, Fire Starters is an online six-month memoir / personal narrative writing program and community.
Write the essays you've been meaning to write, craft a TEDTalk or keynote speech, begin your book at last, or make serious headway on an existing memoir manuscript!
Each month, we will meet online for group instruction and the opportunity for sharing and critique of your writing.
Between online sessions, I will provide you with prompts, inspiration, and craft teaching in the student portal. In this way, you will make real headway.
In fact, you can expect to write 20-200 pages during Fire Starters!
Enjoy access to the private WhatsApp group. It will become your favorite place on the internet, giving you the writing community you crave.
Note: There is no requirement to write about your cancer experience, but if you choose to, you're in perfect company to do so. Fire Starters is specifically designed for personal narrative writing (no fiction, please).
— Interview with Fire Starters student, Jess, diagnosed with breast cancer at age 49.
This Course…
Might be just what you need if:
You are seeking an alternative to traditional cancer support groups.
You have experienced a breast cancer diagnosis.
You are open to hearing personal experiences (expressed through writing) from mixed stages of cancer and survivorship.
You were diagnosed before menopause.
You enjoy writing or find writing useful in processing life’s traumas.
You don’t consider yourself a writer yet but would love to learn to tell your story.
You identify as female, nonbinary, or a trans man.
Might NOT be for you if:
You were diagnosed with breast cancer six or fewer months ago. You are in the thick of it. It might feel good to dive head-first into an intensive course, but you may find yourself overwhelmed, as well.
You were not diagnosed with breast cancer.
You prefer breast cancer groups that are specifically early-stage diagnosis or specifically Stage IV diagnosis. (Working solo through the course material is an option, but you may be uncomfortable hearing the stories shared in the group critiques and/or storytelling showcase at the end of the program.)
You don’t enjoy writing about your feelings or your past.
You're looking for a fiction writing program — Fire Starters is exclusively memoir and personal narrative.
Money is tight right now. (You can absolutely write for free!)
Opening up old scars was something I was worried about. But knowing there was a supportive network around me made a big difference — things would have been a lot harder to process alone.
— Fire Starters student, Gemma, diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at age 38
The Fire Starters Framework
Step 1 — Identify Your Story. Every memoir begins with a life experience. But great memoir is about what you did with it. We'll help you find the story you're meant to tell.
Step 2 — Find Your Structure. Linear or reverse chronological? Essays or chapters? We'll explore the architecture that lets your story breathe and shine.
Step 3 — Flesh It Out. Learn to write binge-worthy scenes, build compelling characters, and raise the stakes that keep a reader turning pages.
Step 4 — Focus & Write. The biggest gift Fire Starters gives you is time. Monthly write-in sessions carve space on your calendar so the writing actually happens.
Step 5 — Refine & Critique. At the heart of Fire Starters is the group critique: a generous, structured process for giving and receiving feedback that will transform your drafts.
Step 6 — Celebrate. After six months of writing together, we close with a Storytelling Showcase where you can read your work aloud. If writing is the inhale, sharing is the exhale.
Step 7 — Find Your Publishing Path. You'll leave with a clear next step for sharing your story with the world — when you're ready.
Fire Starters was the first time I committed a decent sum of money to writing and I thought, 'Right, I'm thoroughly invested in this.' It felt like a pivotal moment — and I haven't looked back since.
— Katie, diagnosed with lobular breast cancer at age 40
Hearth
$997
Open enrollment
Your foundation
Listen in on monthly Writing Salons & critiques. Add coaching or manuscript review as one-off purchases.
Torch
$1,497
Limited to 15 participants
Everything in Hearth, plus
Phoenix
$1,797
— Applications closed —
Everything in Torch, plus
Choose Your Fire Starters Experience
Calendar of Zoom Meet Ups
October 2026: Writers' Salon: October 3
November 2026: Writers' Salon: Nov 7, At-Home Solo Writing Retreat: Nov 21
December 2026: Writers' Salon: Dec 5
January 2027: Writers' Salon: Jan 9, Art Therapy for Writers: Jan 23
February 2027: Writers' Salon: Feb 6, Extra Critique Day: Feb 20
March 2027: Writers' Salon: Mar 13, Storytelling Showcase Closing Ceremony: Mar 27
*The Salons, Art Therapy, Extra Critique Day, and Closing Ceremony are all scheduled for 10a - 12:15p PT. Replays available.
The At-Home Writing Retreat is all day but flexible to your schedule. Zoom available for support (dip in, dip out).
I created Fire Starters to really foster the community, creativity, time, and space to sink your teeth into a life-changing writing project. This is the writing program and community that I personally longed for as a writer. I want to give you the jump start and momentum that I craved to bring a memoir project to life. — April Stearns
Hi, I’m April, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Wildfire Journal & Writing Community.
A lifelong writer, I landed my first memoir-based magazine cover story at just 16. From there, I worked for my college newspaper (“City on the Hill” at the University of California at Santa Cruz) and then went on to work for my local newspaper (The Sentinel, Santa Cruz, CA) following graduation. I loved the smell of the printing press and the excitement of the reporters’ bullpen! But, before long, I was lured to other writing jobs “over the hill” from Santa Cruz in Silicon Valley during the tech boom of the early 2000s.
However, in 2012, in the midst of this budding career, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer at age 35. Four years later, while struggling to “go back to normal” and find others in similar circumstances, I took a leap of faith and launched Wildfire Journal as a way for younger people to tell and read breast cancer stories.
Since 2016, I’ve had the privilege of guiding hundreds of writers through the Wildfire writing workshops. From the fun, free monthly pop-up to the heartfelt, expressive writing-focused Sparks series to the rich memoir incubator Fire Starters — and published more than 60 issues of Wildfire Journal.
I believe strongly that helping others tell their stories has the dramatic effect of turning a traumatic cancer experience into an empowering one — and uncovering a life full of meaning. I live with my husband and teen daughter in Santa Cruz. Although I love town life after growing up on an apple orchard, I also like to get away from all the hustle and bustle whenever I can to hike in the woods with my 11-year-old border collie/Australian Shepard, Skye, but writing memoir remains my purest, most beloved escape.
In Fire Starters, you can explore some of your really dark moments and begin to make connections with other things in your life. It's really cool how you can turn all this darkness into something that you're proud of. Fire Starters is such a supportive community — it's a very welcoming space to bring whatever you have to bring.
— Susie, diagnosed with breast cancer at 36