The Week Ahead
Monday, April 21 to Sunday, April 27. Your weekly line-up of events, activities, and deadlines for writers who crave a creative practice -- as well as those who already have one.
Highlights:
To RSVP to anything in The Week Ahead, text me if you know me, email me if you don’t: bronwyn.coach@gmail.com
Join us for The Monday Write In at Signal Coffee in Alameda. If you can’t make the mid-afternoon session and you’re a paid member, join us for the early evening Top Secret Write In. Time and location are on the other side of the paywall at the very bottom of this newsletter.
The big table at the Tiny Retreat is full and the small table is filling up fast. Pop quiz! Which of these answers is correct?
The Tiny Retreat gives you a 4-hour block of time to:
a) write in the company of other writers.
b) write in a charming garden patio environment.
c) write with a coach on hand to get you into flow and keep you there, give you feedback (on request), and reward your progress.
d) all of the above.
If you answered d) all of the above, you are correct! Sign up for the Tiny Retreat and come get your sticker (and free drink and menu item (make it lunch, not just a cookie))! Email your RSVP or:
The Storytellers Club workshop is back! This year, it runs for eight weeks, May 7-June 25. Be careful about signing up for this one; it’s been called a gateway drug into writing with more fun, flair, and confidence. Once you start, you won’t ever want to stop — that’s why future Storytellers Club Game Nights are free for everyone who completes the Storytellers Club workshop.
This workshop is all about prompts and parameters. It’s about challenging yourself to write within the lines then color outside them. One storytelling game at a time, we play with developing plot, setting, character, dialogue, and so much more. There’s theory behind every game, but real, hands-on practice every session.
Warning: Your writing will never be the same.
In person with an online option. 7:00-9:00pm Wednesdays (PST), May 7-June 25.
Alameda Shorts submissions are due in 10 days. This theme for May is Ginger. Deadline: Midnight, April 30. Event: 6:30pm Thursday, May 8 at Books, Inc., Alameda.
Scroll down for the full schedule of FREE events & activities for writers. Scroll even further for a list of upcoming workshops & labs PLUS this week’s picture of Mowgli. You have to see it; he’s such a vibe.
Looking for the next in-person retreat?
Write with us at the Tiny Retreat in Alameda, CA!
The main table is full, but there are two seats left at the second table.
Saturday, April 26
10:00am to 2:00pm
Julie’s Coffee & Tea Garden
$75 includes
Tiny Retreat
one beverage
one menu item
one baked good
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
Workshopping on request
Help moving through writers block
Invitation to an exclusive Sunday night Proof of Write.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE:
Scroll through for FREE in-person & online events & activities for writers.
IN PERSON & Free for Writers:
1. The Monday Write In
Join us as we test-run a number of venues around town. Write Ins are in-person writing sessions where we gather to write quietly in each other's company.
Mondays: 2:00-4:00pm PST
This week:
Signal Coffee
1536 Webster Street, Alameda CA
Free - you buy your own food and drink
Next week: Signal Coffee
Can’t make it mid-afternoon? Contact me for an invite to the Top Secret Write In that happens later (paid subscriber perk). It’s just like the Top Secret Write Along, only it’s in-person rather than online.
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 (I’m addicted to the baked eggs and the spicy chai au lait)
3. 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 (my fave: the spicy scrambled egg croissant and a cappuccino (my one coffee of the week))
ONLINE & Free for Writers:
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)
hosted by Linda: Email by 1:00pm PST (day of) for Zoom ID
Tuesdays: 7:00-10:00pm PST. Open to all writers. RSVP by 1:00pm PST (day of).
hosted by Bronwyn: Zoom ID 510 205 6986
Fridays: Private Paid Subscriber Perk!*
hosted by Bronwyn: Zoom ID 510 205 6986
*Paid subscribers receive exclusive invitations to Top Secret Write Alongs and their in-person counterparts, the Top Secret Write Ins.
2. 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
To receive Zoom ID information, RSVP in the comments or contact me directly. RSVP by noon on Friday (PST) at the latest.
3. Lend Me Your Voice ~ returning this spring
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.
*These percentages are 100% arbitrary.
RETREATS & WORKSHOPS for Writers:
1. Mini Retreats
In-person with a live online option.
This powerhouse of a writing retreat will change your life — or at least the way you feel about writing in the company of other writers, if you haven’t done it before. Inspiration. Motivation. Accountability. Productivity. And a whole group of writers knowing what you did all day is hella cool.
Quarterly in 2025.
Next date: Saturday, May 17
900am-900pm PST. Includes two 2-hour breaks (I’m not a monster) and an exclusive Proof of Write session at the end of the day.
Bring your lunch: $99
Order food with us: $125
Zoom ID provided with payment
2. Online Tiny Retreats
If you can’t come in person, join us on Zoom. I’ll have my own private wifi up and running and a Zoom room open so you can write with us from wherever you are.
The Tiny Retreat is just what you need to get some serious Me Time with your muse in the morning, then head out to spend the rest of the weekend getting some serious you-and-them time with the fam and your besties. Or just run errands.
This half-day online writing retreat stands on its own merit but coincides with the Mini Retreat morning session once a quarter. It features all the benefits of the full-day retreat, but on a smaller scale and in four hours instead of twelve.
Saturday 26:
10:00am-2:00pm PST
Optional Proof of Write
$75
Zoom ID provided with payment
3. Online Tidy Retreats
Because we could all use a game changer right now.
The Tidy Retreat is a fantastic opportunity to roll up your sleeves and take care of a few small tasks around the house (or one medium chore that you’ve been putting off), like clearing off your desk. You know the tasks I’m talking about — the ones that, if left undone, become procrastination traps when you need to be writing.
We do the tidying and sorting and folding and whatnot online, as a group, to inspire, motivate, and hold each other accountable to what we say we want to accomplish. Every other month.
Sunday, April 27:
900am-1000am PST. Begin with Daily Pages together, to set intentions and get ready to tidy or spruce (optional).
1000am-100pm PST. Share your goal, show us where you’re starting, and get going. Timed focus blocks and regular check-ins will help keep you on track.
$29
WARNING: The long-last effects of just one clean space can include peace of mind, a sense of achievement, the desire to clean and organize a second space, and a general feeling of happiness.
4. Workshops & Labs
Look for Love Letters: A Workshop for Self-Reflection and Appreciation and her sister lab, Thank You Notes for Self-Reflection, coming in late April/early May, after the pandemonium of Spring Break.
The Storytellers Club workshop is back! This year, it runs for eight weeks, May 7-June 25. Be careful about signing up for this one; it’s been called a gateway drug into writing with more fun, flair, and confidence. Once you start, you won’t ever want to stop — that’s why future Storytellers Club Game Nights are free for everyone who completes the Storytellers Club workshop.
This workshop is all about prompts and parameters. It’s about challenging yourself to write within the lines then color outside them. One storytelling game at a time, we play with developing plot, setting, character, dialogue, and so much more. There’s theory behind every game, but real, hands-on practice every session.
Warning: Your writing will never be the same.
In person with an online option. 7:00-9:00pm Wednesdays (PST), May 7-June 25.
NEW! The Storytellers Toolkit for hands-on self-editing is the ideal workshop for writers who want to learn to improve their skills as they’re writing and working on revisions so that when it’s time to submit to a professional editor, an agent, or a publication, it’s as clean and compelling as possible. Early summer.
Late summer brings back the Live & Thrive workshop and her companion lab, The Art of Live/Write Journaling.
Do you need to Unstick Ur Stack before summer? At the moment, this workshop, which focuses on figuring out what to do with your Substack (or blog), is on the calendar for the fall. If you want it sooner, let me know. It just takes a few people to make it happen.
Do you need fodder for your ’stack? I’m elbows deep in the design of a new workshop: The Writer’s Path: Using Journal Reflections to Craft Compelling Stories. It might need a snappier title, but I’m excited about this one — and its sister lab, Ink to Inspiration. Pilots coming soon!
What’s the difference between a lab & 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. 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.
Labs are great for practicing what you’ve learned in a workshop, keeping your hand in, and mastering the art of diving right in to make storytelling magic when you don’t have much time.
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.
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Gratuitous Kitty Shot!
Mowgli says, if it fits, he sits. He also says it’s time for you to sit and make your writing time fit. Squeeze yourself right in there and get comfortable. Who cares if the desk is a mess? Who cares if it’s not even your desk? If it fits, it’s time to sit. And write.
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