Generative workshop this Saturday! Plus back to school sale!
And a tarot card for you
*My Fall 2023 Generative Writing Workshops will begin this Saturday 9/2. We’ll meet 1-3pm Eastern on Zoom. If you are a paid subscriber to this newsletter and would like the discount code for 38% off, respond to this email and I can send it along!
*FLASH BACK TO SCHOOL SALE: All subscribers to this newsletter can receive 10% off all offerings through September 7th with the code NOTEBOOK10 at checkout. See below for current courses and two new offerings.
Dear friends,
Well, this week has been the whirlwind of summer giving way to the beginning of the school year. (My son is starting fifth grade, and wow. Tempus fugit.)
I recently attended Nancy Reddy’s online planning party to work on a schedule for fall writing, and I enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. Some takeaways: Look at your calendar and put in your writing times, but be realistic depending on what else is happening on a given day. A few hours here and there can add up. And track your writing in a way that speaks to you, whether that means tracking your hours on a spreadsheet or putting stickers in your planner, intuitively rating your writing session. (Nancy puts one to four heart stickers on each writing day. Her guest Erin Flanagan loves a spreadsheet.) Also, keep a notebook of process notes for yourself about how your project is going.
Speaking of plans and structure, I find more and more as a writer and parent (and person) that a routine is good, that knowing what to expect helps prime the mind and nervous system, but that within that container, there has to be fluidity and flexibility. And play. That brings me to the tarot card I pulled for us: The Strength card. In the Pamela Colman Smith illustration, and in the one above by Kailey Whitman inspired by Smith’s, Strength shows a figure using skillful means to tame and redirect the energies of a lion. The card suggests that using brute force can often backfire, and instead we might direct our inner forces (our inner lion) through finesse, gentleness, and love. To paraphrase Eden Gray in Mastering the Tarot, Strength is about applying love and consideration to a problem, rather than “sheer will and determination.” Will and determination aren’t necessarily bad, but often we need to stop and reassess whether we’re working in alignment with the spirit. I like this card for what it suggests to me about the need to return again and again to a light touch— play, gentleness, kindness— in the pursuit of our goals.
Thank you for being here! Keep reading below for more information about upcoming fall writing courses.
Love,
Joanna
There are still seats left in our two guided, asynchronous courses for fall, Shapes of Stories and The Writer as Researcher. Classes run through the Wet Ink platform, and you receive feedback from instructors and other students, along with the chance to enter into interesting discussions and community!
Shapes of Stories is a ten-week course in personal essay from Nancy McCabe, who directs the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and teaches in the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University.
The course is a chance to experiment with many different essay forms. It’s suitable for all levels, though most students will have some previous writing experience. If you’re deepening your personal essay practice, you miss MFA days, or want the chance to see what it’s like to study with a graduate-level instructor with less pressure and expense, this could be the class for you! Payment plans are available at checkout. Don’t miss the chance to study with Nancy— limited seats available.
NEW! The Writer as Researcher is our new course designed by beloved instructor Megan Baxter, author of books of nonfiction, most recently Twenty Square Feet of Skin. This class is open to all genres, and it will help you think through all your questions about adding research to your creative work.
From the course description:
A 5-week introduction to the techniques, tools, and use of research in creative writing, open to all genres. Through weekly lessons which include written lectures, reading, research activities, and writing prompts, this course is designed to help any writer who is embarking on a research journey. We’ll begin by examining brainstorming and associative techniques to help jump-start research then detail the best practices, and practical consideration for conducting interviews, traveling as a researcher, and using source material from books, archives, and online sources.
Finally, we’ll explore how we can use research creatively through world-building, conversation, and collaboration. Each week you’ll receive instructor feedback on your research activity and creative writing prompts. You’ll also get the chance to participate in an online peer workshop with fellow writers and researchers. This course is a great guide for writers of all genres who are considering conducting creative research.
I sincerely wish I could take this class myself. Grab your spot today!
NEW! Coaching Packages. I’m opening up my fall cohort of coaching and editing clients, and I’ve just added two coaching packages, priced at $300 and $700. I have room for around five more clients for fall. Go to the link for details!