Try This: A Great Opportunity

Something to bust your writing out of the summer doldrums

Here comes cooler weather, indoors weather, writing weather…

If you’re looking for a way to kick-start your writing, consider Writing Recess with Monica Drake. Monica was always the shining star of Tom Spanbauer’s workshop. She went on to study with the brilliant Joy Williams, and has since published with both big and small presses, as well as seeing her work launched by publishers around the world.

She’s funny without mugging or forcing a laugh. And she arrives at profound moments without being preachy or maudlin. She is a wonder. And she’s a much better teacher than I am—she has training.

About the course, Monica says:

In this four-week, generative workshop I welcome writers from any or all levels of experience to come together and intentionally imbue a writing practice with the pursuit of what Carl Jung called "the play instinct."

Writing will take place during class meetings. There is no homework. Prompts will be designed to reduce writing anxiety and maximize creativity. This class has the potential to dispel writer's block, generate ideas, foster creativity, build community and create pathways for entering into the writing process gracefully. We will be laying a foundation for strong writing into the future.

For beginning writers, this is a welcoming starting point. For those who have more experience, this course can serve as a revitalizing method of engagement.

As always, space is limited. The fun starts September 26th. Check it out, here.

Twenty-two years ago the writer Andrea Carlisle told me, “There’s this writer you might study with, Tom Spanbauer.” So you never know when that perfect teacher will appear.