Write your story.
Not just the stories you've been handed.
Most writing courses teach the dominant fictional mode as though it were simply how stories work.
But it is only one way of making fiction.
Women writers have long questioned what can become material for fiction—and how that material can be shaped into a story.
You have more narrative possibilities than you may have been taught.
When you feel blocked
Writer’s block is not always a blank mind.
You may have characters, scenes, fragments or material—but still not know how to move the work forward.
Sometimes the difficulty is censorship or fear.
Sometimes it is a question of form: you do not yet know how this particular material needs to be shaped.
Knowing more about narrative possibilities gives you more ways to investigate that question.
You don’t have to invent the wheel. Women writers have been asking these questions for a long time.
How I help women write their stories
I help women writers find their material and discover the narrative possibilities available to them as they shape it into fiction.
That means paying attention to what keeps returning:
subjects, images, voices, characters, scenes, scraps and fragments.
And it means learning how to work with that material until you begin to understand the form it needs.
Because finding the material is one part of the work.
Learning how to shape it is another.
That is the work we do in my courses.
Who's behind this?
Hi, I’m Madeleine Ferre.
I teach women writers, with a particular interest in narrative form, feminist approaches to writing, and women’s literary history.
My teaching grew out of years of studying and teaching women’s literature alongside my own formal training in creative writing.
I’m interested in two fundamental questions:
What do you want to write?
And what possibilities does fiction give you for writing it?
My courses bring those questions together through close reading, writing practice, and the work of women writers who have expanded what narrative can do.
How I work with women writers
All my courses are for women writers who want to deepen their understanding of narrative form and discover more possibilities for shaping their material into fiction.
Through close study of women writers, you’ll explore the relationship between material and form—and what becomes possible when you know there is more than one way to shape a story.
Then you’ll investigate those possibilities in your own writing through miniatures and set pieces.
Find your own female tools of expression
Find your own female tools of expression in 4 weeks
What happens when women begin working differently with their writing?
What happens when women begin working differently with their writing?
Women often come to my courses feeling blocked, uncertain about their writing, or unsure whether what they want to write has a place.
What changes is not simply confidence.
They begin to see more possibilities—in their material, in narrative fiction, and in themselves as writers.
Can this work for me?
Women come to my courses with different writing problems.
Some feel blocked. Some struggle with self-censorship or uncertainty. Some are looking for new ways to work with material they already have.
What they discover is not one prescribed way to write, but more possibilities for their writing—and for themselves as writers.
Testimonial
"I am in awe and wonder with all these amazing doors that Madeleine Ferre is opening in such a non-linear, but very, very relating way to each other. My mind is going so many places with every new thread that unravels of this great tapestry that is women's writing world. Thank you all also for sharing your insights and adding value to this amazing non-linear trajectory that we are walking together here!"
- Rita Ruivo, participant in the courses Find your Female Tools of Expression and Find your Female Narrative Tools
Testimonial
"I am 46 years old and for the first time in my life I felt validated as a woman writer and not just validated but celebrated. I had never seen those aspects of myself as I did doing this course. It helped me uncover me, myself, my hidden self, my blind side. I am much more alive, excited, empowered and enthusiastic about the future and I am ready to embrace it all without apology. This course was like therapy and wisdom, and coaching and teaching all in one! Do it!"
- Michelle Foulia, participant in the course Find your Female Tools of Expression
Testimonial
"I was taken on a journey of discovery, an adventure into the labyrinth of my mind. It began with me tentatively creeping round corners of creativity to find what may be lurking there. There were twists and turns, moments of uncertainty that ultimately led me to personal awakening. I now have a clearer understanding of myself both as a writer and as a woman. I have learned to embrace both!"
- Linda Coventry, participant in the courses Find your Female Tools of Expression and Find your Female Narrative Tools
Ready to write your story?
If you want to begin by searching for your material, start with my free 30-day email course.
Over 30 days, you’ll receive prompts and reflections designed to help you pay closer attention to what keeps returning in your writing:
subjects, images, voices, scenes, memories, questions and fragments.
The aim is not to force those things into a story too quickly.
It is to begin recognising what you want to write about.
We respect your privacy.
© Mad Women Writers 2025