The Week Ahead
This is the default schedule for To Live & Write's online and in-person events, activities, and deadlines. To attend, RSVP in the comments. For the current week's specific schedule, please subscribe.
Hello Writer, you’re welcome to write with us.
If you would like to join us for any of our writing events and activities, email me at bronwyn.coach@gmail.com. To Live & Write events and activities are members only - but membership is free! And easy! Join To Live & Write on Facebook and you’re in. If you’re not on Facebook, be sure to subscribe here and let me know you’d like to be kept in the loop.
If you’re interested in our other events and activities, like lit nights, writing challenges, submission guidelines, retreats, field trips, and workshops, subscribe to The Week Ahead.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE: Spring 2025
Scroll through for FREE in-person & online events & activities for writers.
IN PERSON
1. The Monday Write In
Gather at a local coffee shop to write in the company of other writers every Monday. Write Ins are in-person writing sessions where we gather to write quietly and draft off each other’s creative energy. Open to all members of To Live & Write.
Mondays: 2:00-4:00pm PST
Signal Cafe: 1536 Webster Street, Alameda
Free - You buy your own food and drink
2. The Top Secret Write In
Gather at a secret location to write with members who tend to be more involved in To Live & Write and are interested in developing friendship and connection with other writers while getting a lot of writing done. Exclusively perk for paid subscribers of The Week Ahead.
Mondays: 4:30-6:30pm PST
Top Secret location
3. Elevenses
All year, excluding national holidays when the cafe is closed
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.
Free - you buy your own food and drink.
3.5 Monday Meet Up
July 14 through August 4, 2025
Exactly like Elevenses, but added to the schedule to accommodate parents, teachers, and other writers who have different kinds of availability in the summer months between school years. Also for those of us who appreciate an excuse to get out of the house as much as possible on beautiful summer days.
Mondays - 11:00am-1:00pm PDT. Members only.
Free - you buy your own food and drink.
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
Coming Soon: The Weekend Write In
ONLINE
1. The Write Alongs
Write Alongs are online writing sessions where we gather to write quietly in each other’s company without having to leave the house. To receive Zoom ID information, RSVP in the comments or contact me directly.
Mondays: 7:00-8:30pm PST. Members only (membership is free; just ask).
Tuesdays: 7:00-10:00pm PST. Open to all writers. RSVP by 1:00pm.
FREE
2. The Top Secret Write Along
Friday afternoons are for perks! with members who tend to be more involved in To Live & Write and are interested in developing friendship and connection with other writers while getting a lot of writing done. Open only to paid subscribers of The Week Ahead.
Fridays: Noon-3:00pm
Paid subscriber perk
2. Proof of Write - on hiatus while we reset this activity
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.
New days & times available posted in May: Newbies welcome.
Free for members. (Membership is free).
Subject to: core member availability; minimum 4 writers.*
To receive Zoom ID information, RSVP in the comments or contact me directly. RSVP by noon on Friday (PST) at the latest.
Free Events. Free to Participate.
LIT NIGHTS & Writing Challenges
1. Imagine March
In-person lit night featuring 8-10 scenes woven into one story. I give a group of writers the house or apartment building and the parameters. They each write a scene. On event night, we use a walk through the building to walk the audience through the lives of the residents - caught in one moment in time at a time.
Theme: Announced February 1
First deadline: February 15
Final deadline: February 28
Event: TBD (usually the 2nd Thursday in March)
2. Alameda Shorts
In-person lit nights featuring collections of 5-minute stories by local authors, read to you in a cozy, downtown bookstore. Think of it as story time for grownups.
Theme: Announced on the first of the month, March through September (excluding July)
Length: 800-1000 words (must be read out loud in 5 minutes or less)
Genre: Any except poetry, rants, advice, or opinion pieces
Deadline: Last day of the month, March through September (excluding July)
Event: 6:30pm on the second Thursday of the month (PST) at Books, Inc., Alameda
If you’d like to participate as a writer and storyteller, click the button to find out how:
3. Imagine August
Another very cool lit night with something other than a theme tying the writers together. Choose your first line from a list. Receive your last line from me. Write your piece and watch how the stories string together.
First lines: Shared July 1
Last lines: Dispersed July 5
Deadline: July 31
Event: 6:30pm Thursday, August 14 (PST) at Books, Inc., Alameda
1. Flash Lit
An extremely cool writing challenge that lasts a month long, three times a year. We play in February, June, and October.
Prompts: every three days
Deadlines: every three days
Length: up to 500 words
Genre: any
Membership is free!
Join To Live & Write today for inspiration, motivation, and accountability from a strong community of writers who meet and connect on Facebook but gather on Zoom and in the real world whenever we can.
There is room for you, and you are welcome.
Don’t like Facebook but still want community? Check back for chats. I need help getting them going, so please don’t be shy if you see something that piques your interest.