This workshop will take you through activities to help you take stock of your priorities, set down obligations that are draining you, help you make plans for changes you want to make when you finish the class and get back home.

This workshop takes an intensive yet compassionate approach that will help you fit writing into a life that is already full of challenges or disabilities.

The instruction includes alternating lectures with instructor-led activities. The activities build step-by-step on each other so at the end of the class you’ll have an action plan for a manageable number of changes you can make in your home life to have more time and space for writing.

The concepts and activities will be pulled primarily from Structuring Life to Support Creativity by Sandra Tayler.

This master class is a deep dive into how communities work on a macro and micro scale so that you can craft cities, villages, and cultures designed to support your story and the struggle your protagonist will have through that story. This class will discuss power structures, how they shift, and how you as a writer can use community shifts as motivations to push your characters forward or as obstacles for your characters to overcome. Interconnectedness between people can drive conflict without the need for a designated villain. Whether you’re writing contemporary romance or secondary world fantasy, understanding communities can make your work stronger.

In addition to the lecture portion of this class there will also be a collaborative activity where we explore the implications of community changes in a shared format. There will also be some time to work and apply some of this knowledge to your existing works in progress.