Building my tiny empire

How great are all of you, sharing in my Tic Tac box obsession? I knew I was surrounded by a community of fellow weirdos. I just didn't know how weird.

And now I know. Deeply, deeply weird. You are all invited into my blanket fort.

Secondly, I have a couple of business announcements. Behold!

The Practice of Writing is almost but not quite full, so I need to close registration in the next few days. If you want to sign up, now's your chance!

Also, I am officially hanging out my shingle as a writing coach. If you're serious about your writing and could use one-on-one help with your manuscript, stories, essays, poetry, or blog, here's more information.

(I'm really excited about this. I've been unofficially coaching a handful of students, and I love it more than I love Orange Tic Tacs.)

Other ideas I'm tossing around for the future: a mini-Practice of Writing course (maybe a week long?), as well as workshops for smaller groups. If you have any thoughts on what you'd like to see offered, what questions you need answered, what needs I can fulfill, speak up!

Update: The Practice of Writing registration closes today, 5 pm

The response to TPOW (hashtag!) has been fantastic, and before I knew it, registration sort of exploded. Now, it was always my intention to let in a larger group, given the nature of the course. But there's larger and there's LARGER, so I must close registration earlier than expected.

I want to give everyone a chance to register before I close it up, so you have until today at 5 pm EDT. If you miss the window or can't take it at this time, do not fret. I will be offering the class again, tentatively beginning on December 31st. But if you have your heart set on this session, sign up now!

Meanwhile, there have been some follow-up questions, so here are some answers!

I'm not a fiction writer. Does this course work for me?

The course is meant for anyone who's stuck, or wants to create a more consistent habit of writing. As such, genre is unimportant. Most of the exercises will be in the vein of personal memoir, with a couple of left turns into fiction. But these are meant to be exercises that will open you up and get you writing--even if you're not a fiction or a memoir writer, they will help!

How do I interact with my fellow students?

Just like in a blog, you can interact via comments. If you find any kindred spirits in the class and want to form a smaller writing group on your own: fantastic. Anything that can help you continue your practice beyond the class timeframe.

What's in this "one post a day"?

Every day you'll receive a post that will relate to the week's theme. The specifics of the post will, of course, vary, but consider it something like a lecture. At the end of each post will be a prompt, or an assignment.

I also have a few videos on board, and I'm hoping to put together more before the class begins!  

Will there be feedback?

I'm not going to critique individual pieces in this class. First drafts shouldn't be subject to scrutiny. These are exercises, and you need permission to take risks and just get the pages out. As I said in the course description, I will provide encouragement, not critique.

In the future, I will be offering a smaller class where we can take a closer look at each other's writing.

If you want feedback in general about your writing, your career, where to go next,  etc., you can always email me and I will do my best to help. I'll also be addressing many of your concerns in posts, and I'll be available to answer blog comments that might be relevant to the group.

How will we share our pieces?

I'm still working out how to do this. Google Docs seems like the best bet. Bear in mind that you do not need to share anything, if you don't want to. You can share as much or as little as you like. You can also email me your pieces directly, if you feel more comfortable that way.

Hope this is clear! Also, if you have thoughts about what kind of course you'd like to see from me in the future, please don't hesitate to let me know. I've got thoughts on the matter, but I'd love to hear yours.

My Announcement: The Practice of Writing

The Practice of Writing is a five-week online course I'm offering right here on the blog, beginning October 15th.  If you want to write, no matter where you are in your life, I want to help. Let's get past your fears, establish a daily writing habit, and figure out what stories you want to tell. From the course page:

It's easy to get stuck. Our brains are excellent at getting us to avoid working, and the more we avoid working, the harder it is to return. Soon we declare that we're hopeless. That if we were really meant to be writers, we would be writing. And then we give up.

You need a jumpstart. I can help you with that.

I'm so excited about this, and I hope you are, too. All the details can be found on the course page. Registration begins today and ends October 5th, or when the class fills to capacity. The class will normally be available for $95 USD but this session will be offered for $75.

The Little Hater

Whenever I take an extended break from blogging, I try to avoid apologizing for it on my return. Because that's boring. This video by Jay Smooth, however, is not boring, and perfectly describes what's kept me from here. Thanks to Karen, my guru/role model, for sending it to me.

Yup. That's it. I think the lesson here is "don't take a break," but that's easier said than done.

I'd love to hear from you guys: does this happen to you? What do you do about it? In addition to the perfectionism/guilt spiral, I also begin to believe, without fail, that everyone is mad at me. Everyone! I realize this is insane, but the insane part of me still believes it.

More soon, including an ANNOUNCEMENT (all caps!) coming next week.