The Week Ahead
Monday, August 18 to Sunday, August 24. Your weekly line-up of events, activities, and deadlines for writers who crave inspiration, motivation, accountability, and the support of community.
Sometimes, it just be like that.
Every summer, I get excited about all the extra daylight and extra time to do all the things and write all the things. And every summer, reality comes swooping in to strong-arm me into recalibrating my expectations.
In other words, I relearn the hard way that time doesn’t actually expand with everything else in the heat. If anything, my schedule gets tighter as more summer-specific things find their way onto my calendar.
I often end up writing less and living more. Summer living for me looks like running Camp Nana first and foremost (sweet, sweet days with my favorite camper, my grandkiddo). Next, I’m eager to get out and about on fun adventures and excursions, try my hand at new hobbies and activities, run retreats and workshops, and just generally find ways to eat up as much summer abundance as possible, body and soul, before things change again.
I’m also running a business, running a writing community, and running between meals to try to shake off some of this menopause. It’s time consuming.
Between summer solstice and back-to-school, I write and present three short pieces for Alameda Shorts and Imagine August, fiddle with whatever book I’m working on (if and when I have the energy), and only get to my Daily Pages on the mornings I don’t have Camp Nana to manage. That’s it.
If I’m not really writing that much, does this mean I can no longer call myself a real writer?
Hell no. I’m a writer, even when writing takes a seat so far back in the bus it’s no longer on the bus. And it’s the same for you. Sometimes, you press pause on writing so you can press play on life and that’s just the way it is.
During the summer, I think of myself in incubation mode. My writing has not died and it’s not on life support. It’s gathering speed and energy to become the next creative project, the next explosions of scenes and chapters and character arcs.
Some of our members function completely differently. They get inspired by their summer schedules and churn out word counts and make the kind of progress that take my breath away. Their writing hibernates in the winter.
Have you thought about the ebbs and flows of your writing? How do the seasons affect your live/write balance?
If you write for any reason, you are welcome in our community. We are all about support and encouragement. We see you. And we would love for you to join us.
Not on Facebook? Let me know in the comments where to find you or email me for easy ways to get in on our gatherings.
Hyper-local, super productive, 4-hour writing retreat
If you’re bummed about missing the August Tiny Retreat, make sure you claim a seat for the one in September. There’s nothing quite like quietly writing in the company of other writers, with someone else facilitating time and responsibility, to really feed your creative need. Come delight yourself with what you can get done with us on a Saturday morning.
Tiny Retreat
Next three:
Saturday, September 13
Saturday, October 18
Saturday, November 15
10:00am to 2:00pm
Julie’s Coffee & Tea Garden
$75 includes: Tiny Retreat, one beverage, one menu item
Featuring
Four hours of structured writing time and guided focus
Inspiration, motivation, and accountability tailored specifically to you and your needs on this day.
Cooling fans and laptop shades on hand to help keep things comfortable.
Optional 1:1 private session with the coach (hey! that’s me)
Feedback on your work
Workshopping on request
Help moving through writers block
Invitation to an exclusive Proof of Write.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE:
1. The Monday Write In
Gather with us at the beginning of the week at a cute coffee shop on the west end. We write in their quiet, shaded back patio in small groups of two and three.
Mondays: 2:00-4:00pm PST
Location:
Signal Coffee
1536 Webster Street, Alameda CA
Free - you buy your own food and drink
2. Elevenses
Join our weekly in-person gathering to discuss writing, the writing life, and your WIP with people who know what you’re talking about, feel your pain, and delight in your success.
Tuesdays: 11:00am-1:00pm PST. Members only (membership is free)
Free - you buy your own food and drink
3. The Late Night Write
Jump online to write in the company of other writers. Borrow their focus and flow, lose yourself in parallel play, and benefit from body doubling without having to leave your home. Join when you can, leave when you have to.
Tuesdays: 7:00-10:00pm PST. (I will keep the room open later on request)
Zoom ID provided with RSVP
4. The Wednesday Write In
Start your day off with a hot cup of coffee and put some strong writing energy back into the middle of your week. Write Ins are in-person writing sessions where we gather to write quietly in each other's company.
Wednesdays: 10:00am-Noon PST. Host: Erica Peck
Free - You buy your own food and drink
5. The Top Secret Write Along
The Top Secret Write Along is an online writing session where we gather to write quietly in each other’s company without having to leave the house.
Fridays: Private Paid Subscriber Perk!* Zoom provided on request.
5. Proof of Write ~ on hiatus for reset
We are adapting the Proof of Write schedule to accommodate writers who can’t make it Friday nights and/or have requested different sub-groups.
In the near future, look for a woman’s group, a men’s group, a co-ed group, and different days and times during the week.
This online gathering is a safe place for writers to share up to 5 minutes of raw, rough, or polished work written the previous week. Every participant must give - and then sit still to receive - positive feedback. Free to join.
Free for members. (Membership is free)
Subject to core member availability; minimum 4 writers*
hosted by Bronwyn or the next available core member
Zoom ID provided on request
6. Lend Me Your Voice ~ returning soon
Paid subscriber perk! This is your chance to listen to how your words land in a reader’s mind and mouth, where the text flows, where it stumbles, whether your voice and tone hit the way you wanted, and more.
You and a handful of other writers show up, each with 800 words of a book, a blog, or a short story that has already been edited (original work only). You throw your work in the pile. We go around the room taking turns picking up what someone else has thrown down and reading it out loud for everyone to enjoy.
Why do we do it? It’s one thing to read your own work in your head. It’s another thing to read it out loud, when you know what’s coming and you can control emphasis, nuance, and flow. It’s quite another thing to hear someone else read it out loud when they have no idea what’s coming up on the page.
This exercise is 75%** learning about how your words land with your readers and 25%** learning how to get comfortable reading out loud to a live audience.
Labs & Workshops
1. Write. Share. Revise.
NEXT DATES TBD
9am-Noon Sunday, on Zoom
Generative writing, sharing, feedback
7-9pm Weeknight TBD, on Zoom
Optional for a second round of sharing, feedback, and time to work on revisions
$149
Bonus: (optional) access to the coach (me) for further revisions and feedback (within reason) in the week following the lab.
Write. Share. Revise. is exactly what the label says. We spend the first 90 minutes steeped in generative writing, using prompts and short form writing to warm up and engage creative (cognitive) flexibility. This is not the space for retooling pre-existing work. You can use existing characters and situations from your book, but we're working with fresh ideas and fresh scenes because it's easier to step back, disengage emotionally, and experiment with applying feedback when you're not attached to a larger, pre-existing piece.
This hands-on lab is ideal for anyone interested in participating in one of our lit nights (Imagine March, Alameda Shorts, Imagine August), submitting short stories for publication, or building a Substack or blog with confidence and storytelling know-how.
If you have ever wondered why a scene, story, chapter, or blog post fell flat with your audience, this is your chance to find out what we cover in this lab and practice retooling and tweaking your work with clarity instead of that awful second-guessing feeling in the pit of your stomach.
What’s the difference between a lab and a workshop?
I’m so glad you asked!
Labs are for showing up, sitting down, and writing to a specific theme with guidelines and guidance. They are containers of time and place where inspiration, motivation, momentum, and accountability thrive. In other words, we do a lot of writing in these labs. They are designed to hone your skills through practice, experimentation, and play.
Labs are generally offered in 90-minute sessions, but some may take 3 hours or even 6 hours across a weekend. They tend to be about generative writing or habit building. They’re for testing the boundaries of established comfort zones in your writing and bringing fun back into writing and storytelling.
Workshops run for several weeks — four, six, twelve, or fourteen, depending on the nature of the work. While labs are about playfully expanding your style as a writer, workshops are more about taking your creative identity seriously and proving to yourself that you are the writer you have always suspected yourself to be.
Workshops have been designed to introduce concepts of the craft and focus on producing work towards a tangible goal. They are predominantly online, with a few in-person exceptions. Workshops take into account lifestyle, mindset, motivation, and what it takes to sustain engagement in a long-term project, like writing a book or setting the foundation for a thriving blog or Substack.
Inspiration, Motivation, & Accountability!
For writing tips and habit hacks from your friendly neighborhood writing + creativity coach (hey! that’s me!), sneak peeks at what’s going on in my workshops, examples of my own writing, and exclusive invitations to secret writing situations, consider a paid subscription.
Gratuitous Kitty Shot!
I’m not the only distracted being this summer. Mowgli has would rather watch the world outside than watch me ignore my writing when I’m at home. We’re both feeling a bit restless lately. But regular routines return this week and we’ll be back to spending quality time at the desk first thing Monday morning.
*Paid subscribers receive exclusive invitations to Top Secret Write Alongs and their in-person counterparts, the Top Secret Write Ins.
**These percentages are 100% arbitrary.