The Week Ahead
Monday, March 9 to Sunday, March 15. Your weekly line-up of events, activities, and deadlines for writers who crave inspiration, motivation, accountability, and the support of community.
Highlights
Imagine March: Storied Stories 2026 - A unique story time for grownups, live at 630pm Thursday, March 12 at Books, Inc. in Alameda. Featuring a collection of 5-minute stories read to you by the local authors who wrote them. Join us!
The Monday Write In has moved to The Local on Park Street and will stay there for at least three months, possibly the rest of the year. Scroll down for details.
There are still a couple of spots open on the Write in Wine Country retreat next month. All-day access on Saturday and Sunday 8am-10pm includes Morning Session (4-hour writing block), Afternoon Session (3-hour writing block), Dinner Table Discussion, and Proof of Write (reading 5 minutes of the day’s work for positive feedback). Book one or both days and get Friday’s wine tasting at one of my favorite wineries, writing session at the house, dinner table discussion, and Proof of Write for free. Saturday or Sunday: $249/day. Saturday and Sunday: $459. On-site kitchen. Meals not included, but there will be snacks. No overnight accommodations. The area boasts a range of overnight accommodations if you don’t want to drive back to the Bay Area (about 2 hours) — from basic hotels to boutique luxury experiences.
Click the button or email me for more info.
Long Term Magic
I work with writers to establish, nurture, and maintain lifestyle choices that support their creative ambitions and desires.
One of my absolute, hands down, very very very favorite thing about running the To Live & Write community is the way I get to watch writers connect, share support and encouragement, and become good friends over time.
There is great pleasure in being around to witness writers greet each other with joy, hear them laugh together, and know they celebrate each other with admiration rather than envy. To be in the room or on the Zoom when the creativity snaps and zings and bounces, one writer to the other to the other — it’s a powerful and addictive magic.
I’ve founded To Live & Write in Alameda in 2014 (officially To Live & Write now) and have been pinching myself for the past 11 years. Am I really this lucky? Do I, of all people, really get to sit in this place of privilege and watch all this creative magic happen? I guess I do, I whisper to myself in awe.
And it just grows brighter. Not even a pandemic could diminish it. Shelter in Place was a blip. Some writers paused for the year, some doubled down. We all came out of it in different ways. Five years after reemerging, here we all are - writing and carrying on with books and blogs and Substacks and stories like the magical creative beings we have always been.
We meet and we draft off each other’s energy. We parallel play. We body double. We mirror. We write. And we belong. We believe in each other, so we believe in ourselves. We encourage writing in others, so we encourage it in ourselves. We welcome each other to our writing sessions, our discussions, and our Proof of Writes - and so, in doing this, we welcome ourselves and know in our bones that we belong in the writing sessions, the discussions, and the Proof of Writes.
Do you have this kind of magic in your life? I hope the answer is yes. But if you’re craving it and missing it and not sure how to bring it into your world, please let me know. Wherever you are, there are ways to conjure the magic of an active writing community for yourself. It starts with a small writing group, but if you want it to grow from there, it takes work. Magic needs tending. I’m happy to give you a dollop of guidance and a pinch of wisdom learned the hard way - just reach out and let me know.
Let’s chat about building communities of belonging for writers and creatives. My email is bronwyn.coach@gmail.com
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. This is the link to the main community, where you can hang out, check us out, and move into engagement at your own pace, on your terms.
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.
Looking for a round-up of monthly events and activities?
Check out the calendar on my website:
Hyper-local, super productive, 4-hour writing retreat
Wade into the holiday season with a solid writing practice grounded in a couple of Tiny Retreats — because you deserve time with your muse. Put it on the family calendar ASAP so everyone knows not to interrupt.
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.
Next three Tiny Retreats
In person and fabulous:
Saturday, March 21
Saturday, April 18
Saturday, May 16
10:00am-2:00pm]
$75 - includes one menu item and one beverage
PRO TIP: Book more than one, save money
Featuring
Four hours of structured writing time and guided focus
Inspiration, motivation, and accountability tailored specifically to you and your needs on this day.
Optional 1:1 private session with the coach (hey! that’s me)
Feedback on your work
Help moving through writers block
Workshopping on request
A plan for next steps
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: Noon-2:00pm PST
The Local - 1333 Park Street, Alameda CA
Free - you buy your own food and drink
Comment to request membership in RSVP text thread*
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. (excluding the 3rd Tuesday of the month))
Comment to request membership in RSVP text thread*
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!**
If you’re a paid subscriber, comment for membership in RSVP text thread*
6. Proof of Write
Wrap up the weekend and kick off the week with positive feedback.
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.
Proof of Write
8pm on Zoom Sundays (meeting ID provided with RSVP text or email)
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
Comment to request membership in RSVP text thread
In keeping with the spirit and intentions of providing a safe space for writers from all walks of life writing about all kinds of life experiences through imagined fiction and recounted reality, I have made two modifications to the original Proof of Write protocols:
Content warnings are expected from every single writer in attendance, regardless of whether they are considered necessary. This practice has the benefit of inviting the writer to consider message, theme, and presentation of even the most benign ideas and story lines to the potential reader. The more the writer knows about their work, the more readily they can tempt others to read it.
If a writer is uncomfortable sharing deeply personal or provocative work in mixed company, an arrangement can be made ahead of time to move them and members they are comfortable sharing with into a breakout room for their reading, with understanding and acceptance from everyone present.
7. Lend Me Your Voice ~ private until 2026
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.
2026 Retreats - click here for the list
Next up:
Write in Wine Country
April 24, 25, 26 (Friday free with Saturday and/or Sunday)
Write on Track
Friday, June 19-Monday, June 22
Labs & Workshops
Journaling to Know Love - Spring
The Live-Write Balance Lab - Spring
Camp MEG - Summer
Mini Memoir Lab - Summer
The Storyteller’s Spellbook - Fall
The November Situationship - Fall
The Shift: Journaling for Metamorphosis - Winter
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!
Belly!
*Group text threads are for women and non-binary writers.
**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.
Invite to RSVP text thread please!