Join Me at Medium Day 2026
Write Where It Hurts: Chronic Illness, Craft, and Community
Friday, September 18, at 10 am Eastern, I’ll be returning as a speaker at Medium Day 2026 — Medium’s all-day virtual conference of writers, readers, and the people who love them. It’s free, and you don’t have to be a Medium member to register. If you can’t attend, register anyway, and you’ll be able to watch the videos of the speakers later.
Register here: Medium Day ‘26
I’m quite proud to say it will be my third year on Medium’s virtual stage. The first two years, I filled out the form, I submitted my pitch, and they accepted it.
This year, Medium invited me back, and they liked my proposal.
They finally validated the fact that writing about pain helps the reader and writer. It felt like Medium staff was saying:
We want to talk about writing the hard stuff. Keep going.
Here’s the premise: when you write honestly about living in a broken body, something unexpected happens — you stop being alone.
I’m living with profound chronic illness and chronic pain. That’s not who I am, though. My broken cells and busted joints just make up the package I come in.
I also live with an incurable compulsion to write about it, and somewhere along the way I learned writing my truth led to the most resonant work I’ve ever created. Not because suffering is content — it isn’t. Because honesty, shaped by craft, is a signal. The people who need it can hear it from very far away. Trust me on this.
My session on Medium Day this year is “Write Where It Hurts,” and I’ll show you how you can write your truth without trauma dumping onto the page.
I want to be clear about what this session is, because I’m aware the title sounds a wee bit like a support group (although I do run a really welcoming chronic pain and illness support group! Come join us).
This is a craft class. I teach writing — it’s what I do when I’m not writing — and during my time, I’m going to teach you the actual, usable craft knowledge:
How to write about your toughest experiences without turning your essay into a medical chart or a pity party — we’ll go over craft moves that make pain readable.
Where the line is between honest and oversharing, and why it’s probably not where you think it is.
How writing where it hurts builds community on Medium — real readers, real connection, not just claps from strangers
And we’ll still have time for a Q&A!
It’s nothing boring or dry, and you’ll take away solid craft skills.
If you’re interested in furthering your craft skills, whether you’re an established author or just starting out, check out my upcoming class — From Idea to Edit. You can find info and testimonials at ellebeckerauthor.com
Maybe you have a story in you that won’t come out right? From Idea to Edit is a series of six live, fun, and neurodivergent-friendly sessions where we take your idea from a chaotic spark to a polished piece you’re genuinely proud of. It’s engaging, it’s warm, it’s judgment-free — and it just might be the writing class you’ve been waiting for your whole life.
Class begins September 6th, 2026.
You can sign up for the class at Garden of Neuro, the organization sponsoring the class. Half of your class fee is tax deductible.
Even better, a sliding scale is available for those of you who are struggling financially. Sign up or get more info here: From Idea to Edit
Or Venmo: @ElleBecker5