The Places That Scare You

This is a 10-week writing workshop for women who want to write about what scares them most.

You have stories. You have places that make you shudder when you think about them. You have stories you’ve told only a few people. Maybe no one. Have you revealed them fully to yourself?

This workshop gives you the chance to develop the tools that will allow you to become a fearless writer, an open listener, and a fierce storyteller who does not flinch at the troubled times or places within you that want to stay dark.

Learning to develop more compassion for yourself as a writer — by allowing it all to emerge, then getting curious about these stories, then learning to reframe those stories with more forgiveness — will help you develop more compassion for yourself as a person.

Learning to be open, to tell the truth, to not pretend anymore will allow you to develop the toughness and vulnerability to not be thrown by life so much the next time troubles come. .

We’ll meet for 10 consecutive weeks together, on Zoom, for 2 hours at a time.

In each session, we’ll write together, then share something of what arose.

In the next portion of the meeting, we’ll talk about a piece of writing I’ll send you before the workshop begins. How can we learn from the fearless and startling sentences of Jessmyn Ward, Mark Doty, Roxane Gay, Kiese Laymon, Stephanie Foo, James Baldwin, Tiffany Midge, Ariel Levy, Ocean Vong, Jia Tolentino, Hilton Als, Jen Wilde, Nicole Chung, Ashley Ford, Joy Harjo, Octavia Butler, and other incredible authors who did not shy away from their truths?

After the last portion of each class, we’ll work on drafts and tackle some aspect of the craft of writing to help us find just the right words to share these stories. We’ll be working on sound sense, sentence construction, word choice, the rhythm of our sentences, metaphor and simile, sensory images, what to leave out, startling openings, and satisfying conclusions.

In the last 4 weeks of the workshop, we’ll be diving into workshopping each other’s pieces, with kindness and acuity.

In the last 2 sessions, you’ll each share something of your final work: a complete essay; the text for a graphic novel; a series of poems; a short story; the start of a screenplay, or any other form of writing that moves you.

We’ll become a community through our private channel on Slack, where we can ask questions and talk every day, as a group.

If you’ve been intending to dive into your writing, facing your fears, and developing your bold purpose in writing?

This workshop will set you on that path.

The Places That Scare You is limited to 12 female and non-binary participants.