New! Book Proposal Workshop

Note: This workshop will be better than what I named it. 

Sundays: October 15 – November 5

9am-11am PST/12pm-2pm EST 

An intimate, work-focused month-long intensive designed for the writer ready to create a book proposal. We will not, of course, draft the entire thing in four 2-hour sessions, but you will leave with a workshopped chapter outline and/or book overview, clarity on the other main sections of a proposal, and notes for how each of those sections can look for you. Limited to 8 people. Feedback from me and the other writers in the group. Join us.

From Memory to Memoir: 

Saturdays: November 4 – December 9

9am-10am PST/12pm-1pm EST 

A six-week online workshop for the person ready to write a memoir, or the one with a shitty draft abandoned in a desk drawer. We will discuss everything from narrative arc to dialogue to writing about other people in a way that won’t make them hate you. This workshop involves weekly direct feedback on your writing and offers tiered support, including a whole-manuscript review.

Write Anyway:

January 11 – February 15, 2024

Thursdays at 9am PST/12pm EST (1-hour calls)

Write Anyway is a six-week workshop designed for the writer who feels blocked or bored by their writing, or wants to get back into writing after a month or 10-year hiatus. We discuss how to write in spite of fear, perfectionism, and the ever-looming sense of not being a “real” writer. We discuss how to tell the difference between useless and valuable feedback, how to justify writing as a priority even if you don’t “make money” at it, and so much more.

Renegade Writers’ Group:

March 17 – April 21, 2024

Sundays at 9:00am PST / 12pm EST (1-hour calls)

Renegade Writers’ Group is a 6-week writing-intensive created for the person ready to draft a manuscript. Have an idea for a book? Essays? Collection of poetry or short stories? Then join us. This group will hold you accountable and “turn you into a writer.” Seriously. That’s the piece of feedback I receive most often from people who have completed this workshop.

As You See It: Writing Personal Essays

Thursdays: May 2 – June 6, 2024

9am-10am PST/12pm-1pm EST 

A 6-week online workshop on writing personal essays and blog posts. Humor, satire, opinion, narrative, long-form. Whatever your thing, this workshop will get you started and improve your craft. We’ll discuss how to establish a viewpoint and voice, explore a theme through real-life experiences, revise and edit, then pitch your work to a publication or into the world via the strange and terrifying land of social media.

Monthly Workshop Series:

2024 dates TBD

Since this has ended, I’ll create a new version for 2024. Please let me know if you’d like to join us; I’d love to hear what you’d like to focus on.  

Join me the first Sunday of each month from January through August for a 2.5-hour workshop focusing on various elements of craft and the creative process: voice, characterization, the bones of an op-ed, writing about others–and four other topics. You can sign up for all 8 sessions or choose just the ones that interest you most.

Complemented by a private online Facebook group and online writing sessions twice a month, the 8-month series serves as a sort of affordable mentoring program, keeping you focused on writing for the better part of 2023, re-centering you each month, establishing a writing community and accountability, and giving you the time and opportunity to really improve your craft and creative process.

COMING SOON:  Advanced Memoir

(early 2024, will announce details fall 2023)

If you have taken my “From Memory to Memoir” workshop, or if you have a full draft ready for holistic revision, let’s talk. To begin, I will read 50 pages of your memoir and we’ll have a 1:1 discussion about it. On the workshops we will discuss elements of memoir writing and craft in depth, bringing in theoretical discussions of storytelling, writing, and authorial choices, and individual feedback. This workshop involves weekly direct feedback on your writing and offers tiered support, including a whole-manuscript review.

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Upcoming In-Person Retreats:

September 17-23, 2023: “The Role of the Artist: A Writing Retreat with Janelle Hanchett” in Tuscany, Italy 

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Canceled due to death in my family, but I’m leaving it here so you can check it out. It will be rescheduled for 2024!: August 27-September 1, 2023: “Renegade Writing” at the OMEGA Institute in Rhinebeck, NY

Past Retreats (FYI so you can see what I do/catch my vibe–I swear I don’t often say things like “catch my vibe”). Click on the headers to learn more about the retreats. 

“Seriously Funny: The Magic of Humour in Storytelling” with Lisa Rosenberg, Cortes Island, British Columbia

June 11-16, 2023

Lleida, Spain – July 2022

“When Artists Go To Work,” a retreat with Kathryn Hohlwein, Laura Hohlwein, Daniel Schoorl, Patrick Grizzell, and Janelle Hanchett

July 3-9, 202

Heretat de Guárdia, a 15th-century farmhouse in Cataluña

Lleida, Spain

A very special 6-night retreat for writers and artists of all mediums. There will be five artists in residence: experts of their craft, my friends and mentors. Just read about it. All meals prepared by an in-house chef from locally sourced ingredients. I will help you with travel plans and everything you need.

Writers’ Retreat in Girona region, Spain

“Craft Enables Art,” a writing retreat with Janelle Hanchett

July 13-19, 2022

El Castell de Llaés, Ripollès region, province of Girona, Spain

Six nights, 3 hours of workshops a day plus set writing time, one whole day of exploration (plus trips into villages, hiking and swimming right from the house. All meals prepared by an in-house chef from locally sourced ingredients. I will help you with travel plans and everything you need.

Southern France, October 2021

Cortes Island, British Columbia

Develop a new relationship with your writing practice. Explore concrete ways to write honestly in spite of fear, show up authentically on the page, and define for yourself the power of your unique story, voice, and perspective. Oh, and laugh. There will be laughing.

Pescadero, California

4-Day Writing Retreat in Pescadero, California

Join Mac and me in Pescadero, California for a four-day writing retreat focused on craft. Set next to a redwood forest and 8 minutes from the ocean, we’ll spend five days talking craft in a yurt, hanging out by a bonfire under the stars, workshopping writing by a roaring fire, eating meals at a big table prepared by a chef, and sitting in the hot tub. Lifelong friends. Tons of craft instruction. Tons of time to write. People say this place is magical. And it is. That person is me, and everyone who has ever been.

Suggestions for another workshop? Email me and tell me what you’re looking for. I’m open to ideas. To sign up for our early notification mailing list (you’ll find out about workshops before everyone else), please fill out the form below.

Thank you for your interest, and please email me with any questions.