Women’s Writing Groups
These workshops are for you if you crave deeper connection with yourself and others through storytelling and writing. We are all writers. We all have a story to tell.
No previous writing experience is needed.
All writing groups are based on the Amherst Writer’s and Artist’s method (AWA).
A description of this method can be found at the bottom of the page.
Free Gift for YOU this Holiday Season:
My gift to you is the opportunity to try a writing group for free this holiday season. Give yourself the gift of discovering what emerges when you connect with yourself and others through writing. Then if you want more, you can choose from the different writing groups that will begin in January (see more about these groups below).
This workshop makes dedicated time and space for you to write on thoughtfully selected writing prompts in a warm-spirited, supportive space. Participants are encouraged to “come as you are” and write what arises, whether fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, or something else. We welcome flow and the unexpected!
What you will receive:
- Time to write
- Connection with other women
- The pieces of writing that you create
- The opportunity to hear and benefit from the writing of others
- Time to share your writing and receive strengths-based feedback (optional)
What to expect:
In this 1.5 hour workshop, you will be introduced to the AWA writing guidelines. We will write together for two 15 minute sessions, each to a different prompt. There will be time at the end to share one of your pieces and receive positive feedback. Sharing is always optional.
Benefits of writing with others:
- Writing in a group can create a sense of camaraderie and connection, reducing the isolation that often accompanies solo writing.
- Hearing the writing of other participants brings together different viewpoints, which can spark new ideas, insights, and perspectives that you might not have considered on your own.
- Group members can encourage each other and share positive feedback, making the writing process feel more rewarding.
- When you have a time scheduled to write with others, your writing practice grows.
Reserve your spot here to join one of the free women’s writing workshops. I look forward to writing with you!
January Writing Groups
Ink for the Heart: Verilujah
Sundays, 10-11:45 am PST, January 5th-26th
Verilujah: [ver-uh-LOO-yuh]
n. the praise that rises when we are in a state of raw, naked honesty, aligning with the vast mystery of life as it is instead of clinging to our story about how we think life is supposed to be
from Latin verus (true) + hallelujah, song of praise
Credit and thanks to poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer for creating four unique words for praise in her book, The Unfolding.
In this writing group, we will drop the effort to write something “good” and will aim instead to write something true. What stories will come to the surface ready to be told, as you align with the vast mystery of life? All forms of writing are welcome, including not writing, as thinking and listening are crucial parts of writing, too. Humor, tears, the mundane and more…all are welcome. Nothing is too big or small.
In this 1.5 hour workshop, we will write together two times, to two different prompts. Participants are free to ignore the prompts and write what they want instead. We will end with time to share one of the pieces and receive positive feedback. Sharing is always optional.
Cost: $125
This group will continue in February and March. Pay by the month.
The Writing Momentum Project
Fridays, 10am-12pm PST, January 10th-31st
Make significant progress on your writing project in a supportive small group of writers.
Groups will be limited to just 5 participants and the facilitator to allow for satisfying feedback as well as solid forward movement.
The Writing Momentum Project is a weekly two hour workshop designed for writers who have a specific writing project on which they want to make significant progress. In the first hour of this intimate two-hour session we will write together for two or three 20 or 30 minutes sessions, to produce a solid chunk of fresh writing or to focus closely on editing or revision, whether it be for fiction, creative non-fiction or poetry. In the second hour we will read at least one of our pieces and receive strengths-based feedback.
Cost: $155
This group will continue in February and March. Pay by the month.
Stories of Resilience: Behind the Scenes History of Women
Fridays, 4:00-5:30pm PST, January 10th-31st
Throughout history, countless women have achieved extraordinary things, yet their names and contributions have often been overlooked, forgotten, or erased.
Let the resilience, creativity, and ingenuity of women guide you in writing your stories and expanding your vision of what is possible.
What to expect: Each week in this 1.5 hour workshop, we will learn about the life of a woman who who has had a profound impact on the world. We will write to two separate prompts related to her life, ending with time to share one of the pieces you wrote and receive strengths-based feedback. Sharing is always optional.
Cost: $125
About the Amherst Writer’s and Artist’s Method:
We hold the following 5 essential affirmations in our writing groups:
- Everyone has a strong, unique voice.
- Everyone is born with creative genius.
- Writing as an art form belongs to all people, regardless of economic class or educational level.
- The teaching of craft can be done without damage to a writer’s original voice or self-esteem.
- A writer is someone who writes.
“Whether your purpose for writing is artistic expression, communication with friends and family, the healing of the inner life, or achieving public recognition for your art – the foundation is the same: the claiming of yourself as an artist/writer and the strengthening of your writing voice through practice, study, and helpful response from other writers.”
– Pat Schneider, founder of AWA, from “Writing Alone and With Others”
The Amherst Writers & Artists’ philosophy is a simple one: Every person is a writer, and every writer deserves a safe environment in which to experiment, learn, and develop craft. The AWA method provides just such an environment. Unique to the AWA method are these two revolutionary practices:
- Everything in the writing workshop is treated as fiction, to keep the focus on the writing rather than the personal and to minimize the vulnerability of the writer.
- The teacher or leader writes with the participants, and reads aloud along with the other writers.
These practices, along with keeping all writing confidential, responding to just-written work with positive attention on what is strong in the writing, create an environment that is non-hierarchical, honest, and safe. Accomplished and beginning writers learn from one another in a generous atmosphere that works seriously to develop craft and holds personal respect for the value of every voice.
The AWA method has been used successfully with experienced writers as well as beginners, writers who have confidence as well as those who are uncertain. It has been equally effective in helping those whose voices have traditionally been silenced by poverty, discrimination, illness, age or other obstacles to achieving the powerful combination of language and confidence needed to overcome social barriers.
While the AWA method is not therapy, it has great healing potential for writers from all backgrounds. Writers who have used the AWA method have published major works and taken top prizes and awards in the U.S. and Ireland, and over a thousand have completed the AWA training program in workshop leadership.
Peter Elbow, author of Writing Without Teachers, brought the writing process movement into classrooms across the U.S. In his the introduction to Writing Alone and With Others, he called Pat Schneider “the best teacher of writing I know.” The practices outlined in the book have proven effective in graduate school classrooms and in work with the homeless, in children’s schoolrooms, with nursing students, in bereavement groups and in living rooms among friends.