CLEAR A CHANNEL FOR YOUR CRAFT
The thrill of finishing a writing project is hard to beat. What’s even better? The deep satisfaction of a well-maintained writing practice that carries your craft forward from one project to the next.
But maintaining momentum can feel like a monumental task.
Even when you’re passionate about your work, you know wind is fickle. Passion isn’t enough to keep you moving forward when conditions aren’t ideal.
An unexpected turn of events upends months of planning—or a deluge of daily tasks throws you for a loop. You mean to write at the crack of dawn but oversleep. Try to grab time at night but work late. In other words, life happens.
When you finally pick up your pen again, your mind seems blank as the page.
The further you get from what feels right with your work, the easier it is to lose sight of a way into that old manuscript or new draft—and stop believing in yourself and your ideas.
You may dream up a “real” writing life, one where you write perfectly no matter what at 5 a.m. sharp, before the rooster crows. But do “real writers” really live that way?
Here’s a secret all successful writers know:
“Connection with the creative process is a perpetual act of drift and return.”
~Summer Brennan
If you feel beached or lost at sea, that doesn’t mean you don’t have what it takes. It may simply mean the conditions aren’t ideal for writing—and you just need to get out the oars and do the hard work of rowing. You may be surprised how much distance you cover.
Blocks can lead to breakthroughs.
Even detours inspire new routes.
Sometimes darkness opens paths steered by the stars.
There’s always a way to return to your work.
Join me for the Inlet’s writing retreat
“RIGHTING YOUR CRAFT”
Spring 2023 dates TBD (Friday – Sunday)
10:30 AM – 1:30 PM Central Time on Zoom & the Writers’ Inlet Website – www.writersinlet.com. Includes a mid-day lunchbreak.
Course blog will be posted ahead of our session: About a week before our weekend session, you’ll receive an invite to read & comment on the course lecture & video, & begin working through the discussion questions. You can opt to do prep work & wade in early, or start everything on the first day of the retreat & take the plunge then.
Cost: $189
Questions? Feel free to contact me.
Over our weekend together, I’ll share a few of my own successes picking up my pen after a prolonged writer’s block.
I used familiar routes into my work but couldn’t keep wind in my sails. But I wanted to write again—I could feel it in my bones. I just needed more ideas to find a way back in.
So I tried backdoors, side doors, basement doors. Researched how other creatives got their mojo back. In addition to my go-to craft jumpstart, I identified four other crucial routes other creatives frequently used to reenter their work: creativity, mindset, process, and community.
Once I named those routes and tried a few, my practice started moving again. I used mindset exercises to work through self-doubt. Joined a community to combat isolation. Tried a few new systems to manage disorganization.
I could feel that wind blowing in my sails again.
I kept shifting back and forth—when one channel was blocked, I could use another, even multiple channels at the same time.
I’m not going to pretend it my practice is perfect now. Crafting a sustainable writing life is an art of its own.
But trusting ebb and flow of drift and return—and having fresh ways to right my craft again—has helped me relax into writing again.
There’s always a way to right your craft.
I’ve been writing again and this class has helped me find ways to be productive but not stressed. Thank you for including me in the Inlet! ~Emily Shipman, student in the "Inlet Craft Intensive"
How the retreat works:
Righting Your Craft Curriculum
About two weeks before the retreat begins, you’ll receive an invitation to access the course website, where you can begin reading the course blog post, watch the instructional video, & start working through the worksheets for clearing all five channels into your work: skillset, mindset, process, creativity & community. You’ll hone your understanding of your own strengths and challenges, begin integrating the tips into your writing, & share your insights when we meet together.
Three Live Zoom Classes
Attend three days of classes from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM CT, with a midpoint break for lunch. Meetings include Q&As & discussion of how you’re applying what you learn to your work–& writing with the group. Call your muse and she’ll pick up, guaranteed! Well, not all the time. You’ll bring your work-in-progress, or write to prompts, & we’ll entice her every session. Together we’ll navigate through the ebb & flow of the creative process & right your writing when the currents cross
Contact me if you have questions.
When carrying your craft weighs you down, you can reach out to your fellow writers–and an experienced writing coach–to lighten the load.
You’ll not not only study high-level craft techniques to deepen the meaning of a story, poem, or work of nonfiction, but share the ebb and flow of the process with likeminded writers doing the same. All so you can confidently execute what you’re learning in your own work—and have techniques at the ready to navigate charted and uncharted waters, and gain agency over your own writing practice.
Gain a new perspective on perseverance.
Balance the isolation of writing with the uplift of community.
Discover multiple techniques for breaking through blocks and building momentum.
Identify what gets you going again after feeling stuck.
Clarify your vision for revision.
Develop objectivity as you edit your own work.
Sharpen your craft tools daily.
Catalyze your creativity.
Renew your faith in your own unique voice.
Make the process of writing itself more meaningful and rewarding.
One of the most important skills writers can cultivate is the habit of return.
Join us to right your craft.