https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings daily 0.75 2026-10-04 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/pickleball-age monthly 0.5 2026-10-04 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/she-refused-to-serve-me monthly 0.5 2024-03-23 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/do-what-you-love monthly 0.5 2024-02-12 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/in-between monthly 0.5 2023-09-19 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/the-art-of-balance monthly 0.5 2023-01-02 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/that-view monthly 0.5 2022-07-25 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/the-power-of-powerlessness monthly 0.5 2024-06-20 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/struggling-to-breathe monthly 0.5 2021-11-10 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/sixty-four-years monthly 0.5 2021-11-17 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/bunny-girl monthly 0.5 2021-09-22 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/california monthly 0.5 2021-09-22 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/black-book monthly 0.5 2021-09-22 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/our-moment monthly 0.5 2021-09-22 https://www.leslieberliant.com/musings/she-sings monthly 0.5 2021-09-22 https://www.leslieberliant.com/about daily 0.75 2026-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/1199b7e3-c4bf-4fde-b408-ae50e788f378/IMG_6089.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/4054716f-67c3-4b7a-b64a-437d782fa4cd/unsplash-image-mJwLHwF6pm8.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/796ac5f0-999d-4c95-b5be-b2213e1d223e/509_309_I83A4744_corinnaraznikovphoto.com.jpg About - Leslie founded Shape Your Story to empower women to share their stories, and be heard. A writing instructor, published author, and writing consultant, Leslie’s creative writing is published online and in print in the anthologies Big City Mantra and Deliver Us, and in Celsias Magazine (where she served as editor-in-chief), Jewish Journal, and Tribe. She has also worked as Story Editor on award-winning short films for Sarina Films. Leslie’s teachers include the poet Jack Grapes, who created Method Writing; Kurt Vonnegut, screenwriter Karin Gutman, and authors Jackie Parker and Jim Krusoe. She considers them life-long inspirations, and is eternally grateful for their guidance. A former member of the Los Angeles Poets and Writers’ Collective and a ballet dancer who performed with the American School of Russian Ballet, Leslie is an evangelist of creativity for creativity’s sake. https://www.leslieberliant.com/home daily 1.0 2026-09-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/f5be000f-883d-4b52-8322-13ce5108db47/imgg-demo-nLRbokBp.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/6d6ce9d6-acc5-4337-84fa-c8c6a18cbbd7/imgg-demo-dr4UJ5bT.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/d0c64311-b23a-4075-a6bb-08ec13a3bc11/imgg-demo-nD6Pzw4T.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/04924063-044a-48dd-82c1-e328b4c83b85/logojacgrapessmooth.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/b8ad2fc3-e81e-48e2-b8d8-4e5d8a510fc0/logo+%281%29.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/5e82b83f-17a1-4394-9198-3dad4588b68d/IMG_2978.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/259f92f7-b5c2-45fa-b363-65aeee7286ab/download+%281%29.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/2ba96894-f3e2-4b2a-83d3-bd86cc580364/IMG_5973_2.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/d1bb736e-9eec-418a-b61f-13115f7c7a2e/This+collection+of+short+stories%2C+poems+and+essays+by+16+women+writers+capture+the+tragic%2C+hilarious%2C+and+poignant+moments+of+life%2C+From+musings+about+transformation+and+discovery+to+tales+of+childhood+secrets%2C+each+.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/41189f3a-2a66-4991-b977-c889b6ebafcf/ebook+cover+Writrix+Volume+Two.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/ad4a5870-3533-4296-b15d-8cba8b79571e/Writrix+Volume+3.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/6f6a697a-e5b3-4992-aaa9-7ea58b19f027/Cassandra+Speaks.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/18325f29-a5a6-433c-92ee-78904e34dc96/363_I83A1985.jpg Home - Meet Leslie Berliant, creator of the Shape Your Story Method. I’m a journalist, published author and writing instructor guiding women to shape and share the stories only they can tell. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/cbfe9a1f-f2ae-4502-935d-6671829343be/IMG_6992.jpg Home - Join a supportive community of writers on the same path. Sign up for one of our group classes, workshops, or weekend retreats and start shaping your story now. https://www.leslieberliant.com/contact daily 0.75 2026-09-26 https://www.leslieberliant.com/offerings daily 0.75 2026-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/bb2326e8-129b-40ff-8760-6f596a959959/IMG_5647.JPG Offerings - Group Writing Classes Shape Your Story is a hands-on six-week virtual exploration designed to teach writing techniques in weekly live sessions on Zoom. Classes meet Wednesdays, 5–7pm ET. The intimate, supportive environment encourages participants to explore creative approaches to their work, take risks, overcome writers’ block, play with structure, and be part of a supportive writing community. How It Works Every week, participants bring up to 2 pages of work to class. Everyone gets an opportunity to read their work and get feedback from the instructor. You’ll also have a chance to hear from other students about what resonated with them, and what they wanted to hear more about in the piece. Upcoming sessions: October 14–November 11 & December 2 December 9–16 & January 6–27 (holiday gap between sessions) February 3–March 10 March 17–April 14 & April 28 May 5–June 9 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/2965988a-592e-4b4d-87c6-7ca1b0891cee/IMG_1554.jpg Offerings - Retreats Imagine you had a weekend away to write, with seasonal home-cooked meals, good company, and nothing to worry about. Join us in a supportive, nurturing environment where you’ll have the mental space you need to create, experiment with new writing exercises, or work on a piece you want to publish. All you’ll have to think about is writing — let me handle the rest! Current retreat dates are as follows: Cooperstown, NY October 9–11, 2026 Brookline, MA March 5–7, 2027 Brookline, MA July 23–25, 2027 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/13b0f93e-5e08-44fd-83cf-cc84f64f4452/2023+Fall+retreat.jpg Offerings - Sunday Workshops In these four-hour virtual workshops, we’ll focus on one aspect of writing. We’ll do our writing live, during the class, followed by feedback from the instructor and the group. Burroughs and Burroughs: Writing the Lived Experience, January 10 Current Events as Muse: Orwell, Greene and Cox Richardson, February 7 July and August: The Art of the Flawed Character, March 14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/54ec3c39-edf2-47ab-81ff-3881fc593425/IMG_5957.jpg Offerings - Private Sessions What if you gave yourself the gift of time to focus on shaping your story? I offer one-on-one sessions for current students ready to bring fresh ideas to their project and get it moving again. Read how one student went from first film script to 50+ awards. https://www.leslieberliant.com/private-sessions daily 0.75 2026-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/067069e7-2652-4e97-b0c9-261795e50936/I83A4682.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/c62092a3-ea18-49b5-b6a6-04890b57b682/IMG_7043.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/095d4f75-fde7-49c6-ae60-0d6e867259d1/images+%283%29.jpg https://www.leslieberliant.com/retreats daily 0.75 2026-10-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/72e4979d-e622-41a4-a2a4-271c7d4e82b4/05-gallery-booksmith-reading.jpg Retreats https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/e5d69508-ab57-4678-ba26-7492341cf5e6/08-gallery-yoga.jpg Retreats https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/a4a9dc86-5c88-46c9-b7a6-1f72346b504c/11-laurel-story-vermont-lake.jpg Retreats https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/24c89089-3bb3-4ffc-9c36-6736f1564610/17-dates-cooperstown-porch.jpg Retreats https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/3ac5c9aa-ddab-4a4e-b973-b4ea7625b054/07-gallery-evening-writing.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/f4064752-b790-4617-b5a4-393bd96ba5a8/02-intro-writing-at-window.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/903d489c-ca25-4287-b599-4ba74394cf53/10-gallery-sherwood-forest.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/62230fd9-dc39-45aa-8a0b-17200e1a5f40/images+%287%29.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/fd309304-7aec-4dd2-8b36-77f225b341d0/images+%286%29.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60e624a60250d5623cc11c12/efbd468e-a4da-4992-82c8-87387e85540e/18-gallery-cherry-valley-reading.jpg https://www.leslieberliant.com/store daily 0.75